Scientific Collaborator: Jonah Lynch
Soil is a source and a destination for many forms of life, and bears witness to the history of the Earth. However, humanity sees a long history of soil exploitation, and contemporary society tends to underestimate the critical role soil plays in fostering the conditions necessary for the existence of life on Earth.
This tripartite artwork, comprising a physical sculpture located in Brussels' Cinquantenaire Park, and two digital twins, responds to this situation. Compos[t]ing presents a thematically broad and chronologically deep view of the soil, whilst Digital Compos[t]ing explores soil formation and transformation processes beyond immediate human perception as they occur over extremely lengthy periods.
The distinct pieces offer varied perspectives: the physical sculpture grounds itself in tangible earth, inviting tactile engagement, while the digital counterparts transcend human perception, expressing temporal horizons typically imperceptible to the human mind. The knowledge map visualises a text network of undervalued voices and vocabularies on soils from poetic, scientific, and political contexts, expressing the richness within these varied definitions. Together, they form a compelling dialogue, inviting contemplation on the multifaceted nature of soil.
CREDITS
Ingrid Mayrhofer-Hufnagl & Ingrid E. M. Ogenstedt
Jonah Lynch
In collaboration with: Calogero Schillaci, Arwyn Jones and Jaime Gomez Ramirez
Image by: Ingrid Ogenstedt, 2021
The physical sculpture on show at Parc du Cinquantenaire has been constructed with the support of: Agnes Brandstaetter, Charlotte Burgaud, Manoah Camporini, Amandine Faugère, Roya Keshavarz, Stefan Piat, Bjørg Dyg Nielsen.
This sculpture has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Urban, Brussels Environment, Brucity, BC Materials, C-Mile and Paul Dujardin, strategic and artistic advisor JRC SciArt project.