This work deals with water as a material and geopolitical question, as well as the manner in which potentially non-existent materials enter reality through consensual acceptance. The title refers to Red Mercury, which is a myth that becomes reality based on the belief that it exists. To Littwitz, this is similar to the existence of maritime borders, sovereignty, and the control grab that imposes political ideas onto fluid materials. The collection of the water demonstrates the performative and collaborative aspects of her practice similar to her earlier work "The Unknown Land of the South". The source of water, different on each panel, is significant. The water was applied to the metal creating shapes beyond the artist’s control and turning to rust, which unlike a protective patina, eats away at the substrate. The rust was then blocked with chemicals in an effort to stop it’s spread as materials affect each other in a slow process that is invisible to the human eye.


Source of Water (from left to right)

1. Rust from ex-territorial water.

2. Rust from water from a buffer zone: between Syria and Israel there is a unique buffer zone controlled by UNDOF - a special UN unit. Water from the tap of the UNDOF base.

3. Rust from water where two states demand sovereignty: between Israel and Lebanon there is a dispute on the maritime border. Water that was collected for Littwitz by the Israeli navy.

4. Rust from water where two states did not want to impose sovereignty: Until 2013, there was the opposite problem between Israel and Egypt. A dispute on the line of the maritime border in the red sea created a triangle where no state forced its law. As in Israel gambling is forbidden, many gambling ships parked there to enjoy the freedom of law. This water was collected from one such ship.