WHALE SPIRIT - MEZCAL or SPRIIT INFUSIONER- from the Agua Collection

by JULIO MARTÍNEZ BARNETCHE, Mexico 2021

SIZE: 155 x 132 x 132 cm // 61.02” x 51.96” x 51.96”
MATERIAL: direct carving in basalt/volcanic stone from Popocátepetl, guava wood and brass

This is a genius device crafted by Barnetche to infuse Mezcal with natural herbs of your choice. The intriguing sculptural 'cooking apparatus' allows for a beautiful ritualistic procedure where you can infuse and spice up your artisanal Mezcal with whatever fresh (or dried) herbs you wish. The Mezcal bottle is placed upside down into the hole provided at the top. Slowly the Mezcal will make its way through the oval inside of the volcanic stone where it runs over the herbs and gets infused by their scents and will then exit at the bottom as a 'new' variant. A true joy for every Mezcal or Spirit lover. Become an alchemist and get experimenting to create your own personal Mezcal infusions.

Direct carving masters in stone are belonging to a genre that is more and more disappearing. The work of Julio Martínez Barnetche is of high technical mastery combined with a creative fluidity that has the capacity to reveal the aesthetics hidden in the crystalline structures of the stones. Martínez Barnetche, who is an established pioneer of the direct carving technique, continues to stretch the limits within his three-dimensional work to new heights.