SOIL: THE WORLD AT OUR FEET
Somerset House, London until 13 April
Through a range of artworks, artefacts and innovative approaches, visitors are invited to reconsider the crucial role soil plays in our planet’s health. The exhibition brings together a range of stories and responses to soil from a group of global artists, writers, musicians and scientists. Combining sensory artworks, historical objects, scientific artefacts and documentary evidence, the exhibition sets out to inspire and educate visitors about the power and the fragility of soil, its fundamental role in human civilisation and its remarkable potential to heal our planet. – so says the introduction to the exhibition.
I was not sure what to expect from this event. The exhibition has been put together by Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy (The Land Gardeners) and comprises a range of exhibits spread across the sciences and arts. I did not recognise any of the named contributors to the exhibits – something that surprised me.
The most memorable exhibits are time lapse video sequences of life in soil from Wim van Egmond and an artificially generated video of a sporulating Fly Agaric and its underground mycelium (by Marshmallow Laser Feast) which are technically brilliant, fascinating to study and beautiful to watch. Electron microscope images of insects and of bacterial colonies are both interesting scientifically but also worthy of their space in the exhibition purely as images. A number of presentations were of scientific interest. One on ectomycorrhizal fungi and trees by Marianna Heilman and another on attempts to reverse land degradation in Mexico using water catchment techniques and agave plants are of interest and held my attention. Some of the art works however left me a bit cold. The exhibition ends with an educational section for younger visitors and an opportunity to write a post-it note in response to what they have seen; many were thought provoking.
I left the exhibition feeling that my time had been well spent. There is a lesson here for the soil science community. The exhibition was busy and I spoke to a number of people as I wandered through. None were soil scientists or professionally involved with soil but all expressed a fascination with the subject and an appreciation of its importance. There is an audience for soil science out there with whom we should make a greater attempt to connect.
Dick Thompson
Fly Agaric I by Marshmellow Laser Feast © David Parry, PA Media Assignments
