Lac Lunae (Sludge Pit Hole)
2017A small section of cave wall transcribed to reveal patterns of a hidden landscape.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5806881e51544c679c7b0c137d33ad3a3cac891370ca591e474c21c1dc30292e/JCM_8877-1920.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5c87299efbffdc078abb2295909f52bbeec731fd178dc2681590c7f0fc733913/JCM_8913-1920.jpg)
A small section of cave wall transcribed to reveal patterns of a hidden landscape shaped over vast periods of time. Using the point of a solitaire diamond, a slow, laborious process of engraving mirrors the natural process of erosion and transmutes a place of solid darkness into light.
Lac Lunae, or moonmilk, is a white mineral deposit found in caves. It was named by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner (1516–1565) from the Medieval belief that the rays of celestial bodies condensed on Earth.
![Above ground, Yorkshire Dales. 2014.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6f55dfdd5d99fbd829b1916e62baf0eea546ea906a1a59999562c0e7dde64b4a/Above-ground.jpg)
![Entrance to Lost John's Cave. 2014.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d5f2bd423e35770da5a093cd732b2cddf0e5e2c6b9a21dab58fdab5eb6759922/Entrance-to-Lost-John-s-Cave.jpg)
![Moonmilk, Lost John's Cave. Photo: Jim Sloane. 2014.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a37977460044594a5e6a3f28721a74456fca2dec8bef8073e94f20fd8b2f5f1d/Moonmilk.jpg)
![Moonmilk, Lost John’s Cave. Photo: Jim Sloane. 2014.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0cb41dd7512b6059bd6d1a719c04b5a720ec250fb9e049c5ea0a97454a6d1925/Glittering-Moonmilk-Lost-Johns-Cave.jpg)
![Ceris Jones, Lost John’s Cave. 2014.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/379b07f3979a3369107c3371a7a9e04cb56c9f1acafde8b20fba41dc02e9f321/Ceris-Jones-from-The-International-Society-for-Spelaeological-Art-ISSA-working-in-Lost-Johns-Cave.jpg)
![Moonmilk, Lost John’s Cave. Photo: Jim Sloane. 2014.](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be8b323e430a5716ee4e6a57d3dba3856676e61c8cb2fc370cb90badcc8d879d/Moonmilk-Lost-Johns-Cave.jpg)
![Leaving Lost John’s Cave. Photo: Jim Sloane. 2014. Thanks: MIMA, ACE, The International Society for Spelaeological Art (ISSA).](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6e91065c49ee9a7ed791cca50566dc083b639a1befbe3cca88a90031b101c037/Leaving-Lost-Johns-Cave.jpg)
Thanks to Robin Gray and National Glass Centre.