aboutingredientsindex
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A white sack of red kidney beans leans against the column in Eastside Projects
Ellie is on the floor. They are covered in mud, and feathers, and their arms are spread across the floor.The
In a dimly lit room, wearing a white dress, and artist is sitting on the soil terrain and holding a microphone. They are reading from a book. Next to them is a pile of empty cardboard loo rolls, and two red candles are lit.
A photo of the wall at Eastside Projects at the end of the exhibition. It is covered in drawings and spatters made with mud.
A photo of artist Jade Blackstock. Her head and face is covered with black, sticky, shiny molasses which have dripped down onto her white dress.
Winter, with orange hair, and wearing a black outfit, is sitting on a yellow, brown, and orange square patterned mat, reading a book. On the mat is a various selection of other books.
A photo of the bottom of a black woman's legs. They are standing on a block paved floor outdoors in the market in Birmingham. They are standing on a sticky substance that is connecting their foot to the floor in strands as they try and lift their foot up.
Two women wearing american football helmets shake hands. The one on the left is wearing a t-shirt, the one on the right is wearing a glamorous silky green dress.
A single hand is touching a matt with purple liquid.
A photo of a performance by Jade Blackstock in the Bullring Markets. A young black woman stands, holding a large tree branch. She is wearing a white dress. The dress, her face and her long hair are covered in black molasses.
On a soil terrain, Sym, wearing all black, is crouched down with their arms in a prayer position and palms facing inwards. They have their eyes closed. In front of them is a silver metal stand, drapped with a dark yellow fabric.
Three people are sitting down. One person is standing, wearing a dark green kitchen apron, and stiped shirt. They are pouring a glass jug of water on the sitters hands. On the lap of the person sitting down, is a brown bowl which the poured water is going into. Beind them is a white wall of clear mason jars.
Mel is on a terrain of soil. They are wearing a white dress, with yellow oil stains. They are sitting on the floor, with one hand in a black bucket, and the other hand touching the soil.
Three people are standing and smiling. A women wearing brown trousers, and a green cardigan is holding a white mug while looking at two people wearing hats, and holding paper, and an orange. The person in the middle is wearing a blue shoulder bag, and a navy blue hat. The third person us wearing a dark green bucket hat, and smiling while holding an orange.
A hand with red nail polish holding a sheet of paper with a title " FULL MOON MEAL - A LIGHT GUIDE"
A thin white woman is in front of a white wall. She is wearing an american football helmet, a silky dress in olive green, matching green socks and brown slip on shoes. She crouches down to shake hands with a bright green mannequin hand which is emerging from the mound of soil she is standing on.
In this image the artist is wearing a white top, and is holding a black bucket while bending towards some people sitting on the floor. One person who is sitting on the floor is wearing a white t-shirt, and is reaching their hand out.
On a concrete floor, brown wet mud has been used to write various words, and letters, including, "PALESTIN".
On a window, writing reads, 'Free Exhibitions! C'mon in! 7 June - 27 July, dirty nails (les angles noirs)'
In this image five people are standing on a terrain of soil. Ellie, who is naked, and wearing a grey foot cast is holding the hands of two people next to them. The two people are looking at Ellie, as well as the two other people, either side.
Two people are sitting on wooden chairs playing drums. They are sitting in front of a white fence, and a bright city sky line, with a blue sky, and few buildings. The person on the left is wearing a white head scarf, and grey top. The person on the right is wearing red and black pattenred bucket hand, and a dark green top.
A person with tattoos, wearing minimal clothing, is on all fours, crawling on a concrete floor. They have long braided hair and appear to be performing or engaging in some form of artistic expression. Their gaze is focused ahead, while the background shows plants and scattered items, creating an informal or experimental setting.
In a blue lit room, with mud splattered on the walls, a person is sitting down with their hands around their legs, and focusing.
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In this image, Mel is bending towards the camera. They are wearing a white top, and a white head covering. Their hands are covered in wet mud, and they are touching their chest. Some wet mud is on Mels face.
Central to this image, is a big pile of white rice. Around the rice are green leaves, with some red tomatoes, cucumber, and yellow banana chips. Two hands are reaching down to pick up the white rice.
Two bare feet are covered in black paint are on a sandy concrete floor.
Two brown hands are holding onto a porous light brown but sandy stone. The person on the left is wearing a green striped shirt that comes down to thier wrists, and the other person has silver rings on their finger.
On a soil terrain in the gallery, a person is cradled, laying down on the soil, and wearing a red tshirt. In the background three other people are gathered on the soil, sitting down, and talking.
Two people, one with long brown hair and the other bald are sitting on chairs with their backs to the camera and arms interlinked during the sound bath evening. They are looking over more people standing in background. The lighting on the two people sitting down is red. There is a green bluish lighting coming from the top left corner of the image. The setting feels theatrical yet calming.
On the soil terrain, Sym, wearing all black, and with three stripes of blood on their face, are handing out a black bowl. The person opposite, wearing a shoulder grey top with short hair, has reached out their hands to put their fingers in the bowl. Many people are standing around in the background.
A line of various green plants and flowers hanging above a soil covered floor. Behind is a white wall splattered with the soil.
On a pink table, a hand is clenched, holding a pen. There are two rings on the index finger.
On a grey floor, a person is laying down, stretching their body. Their legs are bent towards their head. This person is wearing black socks, and light grey trousers with a grey t shirt.
Mel, is wearing a white dress. They are kneeling, with both hands, and head onto the floor, towards their MILK jars, in the gallery space.
Two people are sharing a warm, emotional embrace. The person on the right, wearing a red-and-white striped shirt, leans into the hug with their eyes closed, savoring the moment. In the background, slightly blurred, another person sits crouched on the ground, surrounded by dark soil, wearing a colorful sweater. The setting has a calm, intimate atmosphere, with earthy tones of the soil in the surroundings.
An overview image of the dirty nails exhibition. On the floor is a yellow, orange and brown square patterned mat. On the mat is a wide selection of different reference books, and six yellow cushions to sit on. behind the mat, is a TV screen, and a TV showing an artist film.
On the soil terrain, Elle is laying face down on the floor half naked, with a bin bag strapped to their left foot. Towards them is a big TV playing a film they are watching.
A person wearing a blue and orange floral top holding a bunch of white flowers. People are standing around looking at the flowers.
A person is wearing a cream coloured dress, while standing in the ocean. They are bent down with their hands in the water holding onto a clear plastic bottle. They have short black hair and are wearing silver hoop earrings.
In the dimly lit gallery space, Ellie is standing on top of the desk, wearing a grey foot cast, and lifting their head up. Many people are watching Ellie.
In this photo a person is filming a video of a TV leaned up against a mud splattered wall, with the ground covered in mud.
In a dark room, and on a blue and red circular plate there is a variety of different foods on a table.
In a green dimly lit room, a person wearing dark coloured shorts, and a shirt is wearing a patterned head scarf. They have both hands up in the air, with their two palms touching inwards. They are sitting on a terrain of soil.
MIMI is sitting on the soil terrain. They are covered in a light brown blanket. Their eyes are closed, and they are holding a black and silver microphone to their mouth.
In this image a group of people are standing, and kneeling around a pinkish-white poster. The poster is slightly leaning against a big blue gate, which has spikes ontop. Everybody is smiling, and the weather is bright and sunny.
Two children look at each other standing in front of a white wall with mud splatters. One of them is taller than the other. They both are wearing white overalls covered in mud. There is mud on the floor too which seemed to be covered in a black tarpaulin.
Two black people are gathered against a white background with red writing. One person is wearing a brown t-shirt, and has their arms spanned outwards. The other person is wearing a blue hat, and turtle neck jumper, with glasses.
On a terrain of soil, a brown ceramic pot is smoking. Soil is going up the central column of the gallery space. In the background various people are gathered talking, and looking around the space.
A group of people surrounded by greenery are smiling and looking at a person making gestures with their hands.
A girl who is wearing brown dungarees is holding a purple flower to the camera. Figures in the background are blurred.
On the soil terrain, a brown clay incense during, is smoking with white smoke.
In a crowded room, and with soil on the floor, a women is wearing a green shirt with green shorts, and a baseball helmet. She is also wearing green socks, and brown shoes. As she walks along the soil her hands are slightly raised. On the soil is a long tree branch, a block of ice with violet petals, and a car engine with sharp wire.
In front of a white wall, a person with a blue painted head, has their arm raised and is holding a stone. They are shirtless, and have a hairy chest, with black smudges on their body. They are wearing black trousers, and a black belt.
A photograph of the installtion at Eastside Projects at the start of the exhibition. A large mound of soil rises up towards the back wall of Eastside Project's gallery space. Snaking across the surface are three terracota vessels on low steel stands. Smoke is rising as they burn incense. The walls behind are pristine and white.
A line of teracotta clay vessels made by children at Chandos Primary are tucked in the crevice under the main wall at Eastside Projects. There are coil and pinch pots and they are decorated with, or containers for red kidney beans.
Mimi is leaning on a terrain of soil, covering themselves in a brown blanket. They are holding a microphone to their mouth, and are in front of a white walled background. Next to them on the soil is a dark brown bowl, and behind on concrete floor is a speaker with a green light at the bottom.
In Birmingham Outdoor Market, three people are standing, and smiling at one another. The market is a backdrop of people selling yellow and orange fruit in the centre, and to the right people are selling fabric.
A person is crouched down on the soil terrain. They are lighting a clay incense burner.
There is a group of people sitting in a circle on a yellow and brown square mat. There is a TV screen with an image of black tarpaulin, and plants are hanging in the camera frame.
In a blue lit room, two people are embracing a hug. There are many people in the background, standing on a terrain of soil.
Two young children are standing barefoot on a black plastic-covered floor, both wearing white protective coveralls and goggles. Their outfits are smeared with mud, and they have mud on their faces, hands, and feet. Behind them is a white wall with mud splatters and hand-drawn mud marks. The children are looking into the camera.
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In this image many people are laying on the ground. At the centre somebody is sitting down, bowing their head in their knees, and wrapping their arms around their legs. Behind these people are a variety of green plants.
In the gallery, on the soil terrain, Elle is crawling on their hands, and legs, half naked. Strapped to their left leg is a black bin bag. On the soil is various objects like a branch, an ice cube, and a clay ceramic incense burner.
MIMI is sitting on the soil terrain. They are covered in a light brown blanket. Their eyes are closed.
On a brown, orange, yellow sqaure patterned mat somebody is holding up a white card which reads, " If we compost grief, what does it transform into?". Their are various other books on the mat.
In this image three people are sitting on a white bench looking to the right hand side. Behind them is a white cracked wall, and a green tree.
In this photograph of a performance by Jade Blackstock, a young black woman lies on a concrete floor. Her head is pinned down by a large tree branch. She is staring into the distance as though she has resigned herself to her fate.
In front of the soil terrain, two people are facing one other. The person standing is holding a black bowl, and are wearing black. The person opposite, wearing a green top, has their hands out, and dripping their fingers in the black bowl.
On the soil terrain, Mel and winter are sitting on the soil. Mel is wearing a white, yellow oil marked dress, and Winter is wearing a black outfit, with orange hair. They are both crouching down on the soil.
A black and white photo of large birds circling in a cloudy sky
In front of a white wall, with various mud splatters is a tree stump, holding up a clear plate of brown balls of falafel on a bed of green herbs.
A photo of a performance by Jade Blackstock in the Bullring Markets. A young black woman stands, holding a large tree branch. She is wearing a white dress. The dress, her face and her long hair are covered in black molasses.
In this colour photograph a slim black hand with long fingers smears brown liquid clay on a concrete floor. A white liquid has formed rivulets across the whole surface of their hand. The marks they are making might perhaps be letterforms or linear patterns.
MIMI has long brown hair which is tied back. They are wearing black, and are sitting down. In front of them is a silver laptop which they are using. The laptop is on a brown wooden table.
In a terrain of soil, a few small green roots are rising from the soils surface.
On a terrain of soil, a white plate with water, is on a wooden tree stump. Over this plate, a person is holding wet rice paper. In the background many people are gathered, either standing, or sitting.
Sym, with three stripes of blood dripping down their face, is wearing all black. They are crouched down, holding a bottle of white rum. They are pouring this white rum in a pile of brown soil. They are holding the black bottle cap with their left hand, and on the ground next to them is a small clear tube containing red blood.
In this image a person is wearing a black t shirt, and a purple long skirt. They are kneeling down on a terrian of soil, and holding a brown clay vessel. In front of them is a is ceramic pot with a black structure that arounds the ceramic. Behind them is a group of people talking to each other, and a white column in the gallery space.
In this image, people are gathered around, sitting on red / orange / blue mats. The central figure is wearing a grey top, has black glasses, and purple patterned trousers. They are talking to the group. The person next to them is wearing a green cap, and a white shirt, and listening. Behind everybody is a white concerete wall.
A photo of the exhibition at Eastside Projects. To the left we can see the edge of the soil, sitting on it is a clay vessel and bottle of palm oil. In the centre of the image is a house shaped building. 7 wooden shelves hold over 60 glass jars which contain different objects and liquids. To the right is a TV screen on a black pole in front of two chairs.
A black and white photo of a hand holding a string of well worn beads
A group of people are standing on a terrain of soil, and watching a tv that is leaning against a mud splattered white wall.
On a land of soil, a person wearing a white t shirt, and tousers is leaning over to touch the soil with their index finger. In front of them the land of soil is leaning around a white column in the gallery space. On the left are some clear milk jars that contain various objects and liquids like hair, white rum, and sugar.
On a muddy floor, in the gallery space, white overalls are piled on top of each other. The wire overalls are covered in brown soil. Behind this is some clear milk jars on a shelf on a white wall.
A photograph of the main, white wall at Eastside Projects at the end of the dirty nails exhibition. It is covered in drawings and splatters where people have thrown soil at the wall. In the foreground is a large expanse of brown soil and the three columns that hold the roof up.
This image shows a group gathered around a person who appears to be leading or facilitating a session or ritual. The person leading the event is in the foreground with their back facing the camera, wearing a striped shirt with suspenders and a scarf, and holding a small object tied to a string, which may have ceremonial or symbolic significance.
On a white wall are mud splatters, and mud handprints with soil.
Against a white wall and on an orange carpet, and a blue carpet, are a line of people pointing forwards with their arms. They are all wearing sunglasses. On the orange carpet is a black water bottle, and floral paper cups, as well as clear hand sanitiser, and a clear bottle of water.
In a dimly lit room with a navy backdrop, there is a long table with many people gathered. On the right are two people wearing dark clothes looking forwards. On the table are various items such as a phone, a grey bag, a light brown notebook, a clear water bottle, and a black bag.
Jade lies on their back on a large expanse of soil inside Eastside Projects. They are covered in olive oil which they have just poured over themselves. This is covered in a layer of soil.
A young black man wearing blue shorts, a salmon pink vest and a white cap turned backwards makes marks on the white wall with mud
In a darkly lid room, with a red hue, three people are standing around talking to one another. The person in the middle is wearing a bright red, and purple patterned dress. She is holding a crutche, and has short black hair. Two other people are either side, and looking towards her. The person on the left is wearing a blue top, and the person on the right is wearing a short sleeved black top.
In this image, two hands are holding a brown ceramic dish. On the dish is wet rice paper, with green vegtables wrapped inside. A hand, wearing many silver rings is holding this rice paper, and wraping it together.
A photo of artist Jade Blackstock, a young black woman with long hair in braids. She is sitting on a floor which is covered with soil and is applying idigo dye to her feet and lower legs with her hands. She is wearing a bright white dress and looking out of the shot to our left, staring intensely.
Mel, wearing a white dress, has both arms lifted in the hair, holding a black bucket. The yellow oil in the bucket is falling on Mel's face, and clothing.
A black and white photo of a splayed pair of black legs which are emerging from the sea. The image has been turned upside down so the sea is almost like the sky.
A young boy with brown hair throws soil at a white wall in the main gallery at Eastside Projects with all his might.
In the crowded gallery space, Elle is holding the hands of two people, walking around with them. Ellie is half naked, and has their hair up. A lot of people are sitting or standing and watching this walk happen.
In this image two people are standing. The person on the right is leaning on the other person, and wearing bright orange open toe shoes with blue framed sunglasses. The person on the left is wearing long white trousers, and a grey waist coat. Both are standing in front of a white wall, and a big green tree.
A person in a white garment and a leopard-patterned headscarf observes shelves lined with glass jars containing various preserved substances. They hold one jar while standing in a space that appears contemplative and curated.
In this image a person with a blue painted head is wearing a dark brown earthy mat, and a brown twig coming from his neck. He is holding a clear water bottle, and pouring water into a brown circle bucket. Opposite him is another person, kneeling watching the water. They are wearing an animal print head scarf.
A group of people are standing together in an outdoor market setting, with a stall selling "Falafel Wrap and Fresh Juice" and fruit in the background.
On a grey table, images of inside Mel's MILK jars are printed out onto white card.
A group of people are standing and sitting around a rooftop garden which has a white fence, and a grey concrete floor. Sym, who is wearing a black shirt, and shorts, is walking forwards. They are carrying a tray of raw red meat. They walk with focus.
A photo of Eastside Projects. To the left is the edge of the soil, To the back are a series of jar based sculptures on shelves on a house shaped builing. To the right is a TV screen showing Bronwyn Katz's film and in the foreground is a large patterned mat covered in books and cushions.
On a white wall there are dark brown mud splatters with the writing, BOUBIK drawn by hand. There are also mud handprints which are a lighter brown colour. On the floor is a black tarpaulin sheet which is covered in dark coloured mud.
Sym is wearing a black jumper with a fuzzy off white vest. They have one of their hands in front of their mouth laughing. Behind them is the gallery space at Eastside Projects. They are sitting on a table with brightly coloured table clouth.
A photo of a white man wearing sleeveless black top touching a brick wall with plants coming out of it. People in the background observing the canals and surroundings.
In this image, three children are wearing white overalls, throwing brown soil onto white walls. The white wall has many splatters of soil on it. The child on the left is drawing onto the wall with a dried clay piece.
In a darkly lit room, many people are gathered. On the floor is a pile of soil. People are crouched down, and lighting candles.
In this image a large pile on brown soil is in the gallery space. On the white walls are mud splatters, and mud handprints, and names written with soil. The floor is scattered with patches of soil, and circles of black tarpulin. To the left of the image, a tree branch is leaning against a grey metal collum, and white wall.
This is a close up of a hand. They are holding a dark brown clay plate. On this plate is white rice shaped into a triangle. And various other ingrediants, including a green herb.
In this photograph, Wutangu is wearing blue shorts, and a black and red top. They are looking at the camera, with their hands lifted in the air, and talking. They are sitting on a red and orange mat, and in the background is white frences, and buildings.
A photo of a large amount of soil building up towards the back corner of Eastside Projects' main gallery. Through the centre runs a line of three small, low terracota vessels held off the ground by metal frames. Smoke is rising form them as we are burning incense.
In a shaded garden, with a concrete floor, Jaz, wearing dark sunglasses, and a red patterned skirt, is holding her phone with a purple phone case, and reading from it. They are sitting on a blue mat, and holding a clear bottle of water. Jaz is also wearing a black hat.
Two people are bending over, and putting their arm in a big black bucket which is slightly covered in mud. On the floor to the left are some clear plastic bottles with water in. Behind these two people are some clay pots, and a low white wall. The person on the left is wearing a white head scarf.
A person is topless, wearing white trousers with orange colouring. They are bending backwards with their arms up in the air in a gentle, but posted position.
A photo of a performance by Jade Blackstock in Eastside Projects. A young black woman stands, holding a large tree branch. She is wearing a white dress. The dress, her face and her long hair are covered in black molasses which is streaming from a white cloth bag held on the branch above her head.
A person, wearing a white vest, and orange bottoms, is in front of the sea. Their hands are spread apart, either side of their body. They are looking towards their left arm.
A white wall display in the shape of a house with six shelves holding various jars in a large room with high ceilings and bright lighting
Jade is wearing a white dress with her hair tied back. She is holding a heavy tree branch that has a white bag roped to the top of it. This bag has molasses in it, which is leaking out. Behind Jade is a big metal structure, and to the right is part of the market which is selling various fruits and vegetables.
A white woman with a bright orange fringe sits on floor of the outdoor fruit and vegetable market. They have their left hand on their left leg. Their eyes are shut and there is a calm expression on their face. With their mouth closed they seemed to be humming in the microphone which is being held close to their mouth in their right hand. Some orange peelings are laid in front of them on blue tarpaulin. In the background there's a green table with a red scarf and a plastic water bottle.
Hands are covered in wet light brown clay. The two hands are holding onto a piece of fabric which is also covered is wet clay.
A black and white photo of a black man wearing. a grey vest and dark swimming shorts. He is in the sea and has arched his back so that his head and legs are submerged.
A small restroom with walls covered in chipboard panels, creating a rustic appearance. A white toilet with a safety rail on the left is positioned against the back wall. Above it hangs a framed artwork with a textured, rust-like pattern. On a black shelf behind the toilet, there is a woven basket containing colorful sanitary products. Overhead, visible pipes and wiring give the space an industrial touch.
A group of people sitting in a circle on the floor in a cozy room with natural light and large green plants. They appear to be engaged in a discussion, with one person speaking while others listen attentively. Some participants sit on cushions, and there are various materials spread out in the center, possibly for a workshop or group activity.
In this image a person with a blue painted head is wearing a dark brown earthy mat, and a brown twig coming from his neck.
On the mud terrain, Elle, wearing a grey foot cast is holding the hands of two people. They are all walking on the soil together. On the soil are some lit candles.
Three MILK jars are sitting on a wooden shelf. In the jars is white rum, kidney beans, and black hair.
Here is a close-up view of neatly stacked packets of various spices with labeled prices at a market or spice shop.
melissandre varin standing barefoot in the middle of Birmingham's outdoor market. Melissandre, dressed in a long white dress and headscarf, is peeling oranges, with several orange peels scattered on a blue tarp at her feet. Behind her, a bustling market scene unfolds, with various shoppers browsing through fruit and vegetable stalls. The market setting includes stacked crates of produce, colorful fruit, and a mix of people engaged in shopping. To the left, a woman holding woven hats smiles, adding a lively, communal energy to the scene.
In a darkly lit room, Manoj, is in front of big silver drums. They are banging the silver drums with two brown wooden sticks. Manoj is on a yellow sqaured patterned mat, and wearing a white striped shirt. In front of him are a variety of different people, listening and standing.
Against a white background and standing on a soil terrain, two people are hugging. One person is wearing a green top, and shorts. The other is wearing an all black t-shirt, and shorts. Both are wearing black baseball helmets with three white stripes.
Agnes has short dark hair and is looking into the camera. Her hands are crossed, and she is wearing a yellow shirt, and a light pink and green checked dress. Behind her is a mud splattered wall, with a large TV leaning against the wall with images of green palm trees.
This image is of a mud splattered wall, with a large TV leaning against the wall with images of a person wearing white with their head in a big bucket, covered in brown mud.
On a soil mound two people are lying down. A man is holding up his arm. He is holding some soil in his palm, and looking upwards. The person on the right is wearing a yellow top, and has brown hair, looking away.
Two hands are reaching out with flat palms. Both palms are facing one another with a gap. On the right a person is laying down, looking through this gap.
A young boy with brown hair throws soil at a white wall in the main gallery at Eastside Projects with all his might.
In front of a white floor, and floor backdrop, a person wearing a red patterned t shirt and black trousers is rubbing their hands on the ground in a circular pattern with mud.
Deuil terrestre
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How can we care for each other in time of seeking for our own survival?
How does your body react to suppressed stress, tension, trauma?
Maybe, you do not need to wrestle anymore. You are already here.
consumption as a generative ACT I – Death (fold bottoms of toilet paper tubes) I am a creature made from death, from killing. Whether it is the stolen red flesh which is seared, sliced, sauteed, bones boiled in broth, liver and lung crushed into paste, or whether it is the leaf, the stem, the flower, torn from the root and diced, steamed, stewed, or it is the root itself which is unburied from the Earth to meet its grave in the air. I am the product of taking, but fruit is the only flesh which is given.
How far can you go? Or have you already arrived?
We pour our fingers onto the dark soil. Our tips start rooting into the ground.
How can we connect with the earth?
consumption as a generative ACT IV – Rot (cover seeds with more soil) Most of the seeds we plant will rot and die before they bear fruit. So, is it still worth the labour of loving? What happens when a relationship breaks apart like a seed husk, and it reveals the stench of neglect? All that once sweetness has fermented into something poisonous, and bitter, and putrid. Compassion has become resentment. The love you spoke with ease is now imprecise and messy and rotten to filth. What does it mean to be consumed by time? All we have is all we have, and we don't have a lot. Not enough time, not enough knowledge, not enough patience, not enough resources, not enough energy, not enough experience. And yet we are here, planting seeds which may grow tall, or most likely will rot in the soil long before they emerge, because we have no other choice.
Is this how it will feel like at the end of this life, when the human body will transmute into something else? (losing one’s form – multiplying the illusion of ego into a multitude of others)
How does your body communicate with you, calls attention to inner emotions, feelings?
Why the earth?
Why does land attract us so much?
Will these bones remain pale and prostrate in the Valley? They say offerings to the Vague Terrain can activate ancestral mingling. Their scattered refrain is an incubator for descendants vulnerable and weak. For destinies arrested, interrupted, or tears mustered as speech. - We die, we live, we rot, we be. Consumed by this ground. A product of taking and recall. Both spectacle and legacy. Letters. Fractured messages litter this Wilderness fermenting with strange fruit of mimicry, rejection, refinement. Entwining and entwining and troubling the liminal depths. Hum and harmonise with my dead. This graveyard’s a family tree. And displaced bodies in displace can terraform holy, healing spaces for grief. - Bathe me in earth once again. I’ll return, through the portal I breached, to the beginning where there was only Blackness. Such freedom, I have faith I can reach. Roots are forming, taking hold as we build myself up, gradually. Dark Matter sculpted to steward the Void, adding to the Great Chain, piece by piece.
Which futures have we already been? Which pasts are our bodies carrying?
Can you hear the movement of the soil? Can you bear it?
On devient forêtes. We become forests.
What are the creative ways with which we generate collective abundance?
How do the pressures of capitalism play into your perception of yourself?
How does your body remind you of what you need?
How deep shall we go to reach it?
consumption as a generative ACT II – Sex (half-fill toilet paper tubes with soil) I hate when asexual people are compared to plants, not only is this dehumanizing, it is also inaccurate. Plants fuck. Flowers are genitals. Pollen is airborne cum. A fruit is an ovary. Not only do plants fuck, they make it the whole ecosystem's business. Plants know that sex is a magic which requires a congregation. To spread the pollen, or to consume the ovary, is to partake in the divine orgy of propagation. To feel the flesh of the fruit squirt onto your lips, drip down your chin and fingers. To feel it’s cool centre warm with your breath. To taste the sweetness, the sour, the softness. To feel the pleasure of devouring, and know that your lover wishes to be devoured, so much so, that they entice you, invite your curious tongue, with their fragrant and seductive aroma. All of this so you may undress them with your teeth and expose the naked seed which lies within.
What is your vision of abundance?
Where does your energy come from?
Nails become more and more black.
What if we were to kiss her? (a mouth full of soft and cool soil)
How on earth…?
How do we become complicit in each others liberation? As we collectively bear witness to the calculated violence of imperialism, six months into a genocide, and decades, centuries and generations into cycles of oppression, the rendering of some life as less worthy than others, Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s words fill the charged air in my lungs: where life is precious, life is precious. Abolition radically transforms our relationship to violence and to liberation, where freedom is no longer the abnegation or total absence of violence, but rather the possibility of its transformation. To water, and to growing, digging and stirring soils till our fingers smell of earth, of life. No longer the magical thinking of the prison walls or the rituals of punishment of people or populations, but space for holding, and holding, and holding. What forms of tending do our imaginations require to water the worlds we are attempting to grow? What monsters have made homes in us in our search for safety? And how do we make room for these monsters to be tended to as well? How do we make and hold community with and across these divides? How do we make space for all these worlds in motion, tending ever to their churning? Where in our bodies do we locate these residues, and what fine substance do we want to mold them into from the moisture of our hands?
Is it ever possible to save humanity?
Can being tied to a land also be the source of our liberation?
How does it feel like to embrace it – to decolonise it?
How often and/or in what contexts are you expected to deny your own needs, to “bend over” in order to please, accommodate, at the detriment of your well-being?
Our earth-bodies are talking to us. Will you stop, and listen to them?
What will you do if you are the last to liberate humanity?
What does reciprocity with the natural world and non-human life forms mean? What can it look like?
Our freedom has the colour of (the) earth - the colour of skin
Bactéries, insectes et vent. Quelle forme on deviendra? Bacteria, critters and wind.
Why is black the colour of impurity, of the ‘morally wrong’, of the abject?
What is your connection to the soil?
Our embrace might become a kiss – a mouth engulfed by cool, soft earth.
With a gentle stroke, we get soiled.
IF WE COMPOST GRIEF WHAT DOES IT TRANSFORM INTO?
How do we search for freedom and liberation with peace?
Can we open our futures and transition to our earth-bodies?
What knowledge has been passed down to you by your ancestors, predecessor? Can it still be transmitted, retrieved?
Will soil save us from the ever-present cementification of our lives?
consumption as a generative ACT V – Rebirth (blow out candles, take a long breath) We are creatures made from rebirth. Whether it is the words we chose poorly, the loved ones we've lost, the pain we have invited, or that which we were given without invitation. We are the sweet and the rotten. We are the grace and the unforgiven. We are the complacent and the agitator. And when we nurture the soil, allow ourselves to be devoured, we too become the fruit.
Pourquoi la terre? Why the earth?
But don’t they also just call it ‘dirt’? Même si on l’appelle ‘boue’…
consumption as a generative ACT III – Life (place seeds in toilet paper tubes) Soil is an archive of the dead. It is dark and silent. And it is the Earth's oldest womb. Somehow, life breaks the silence. Emerging between cracks in concrete, in the crevice of caves, between the blades of a stranger, or within an art gallery in Digbeth. Where there is soil, light, warmth, and water, life can begin. When we consume, we strip the armour and allow for the intimacy of birth. Consumption is both a destructive and a generative act, but consumerism wishes us only to destroy. To be passive in our consumption. Swallowing seeds like cyanide and giving nothing to the soil. Consumerism makes us selfish lovers. Makes us believe that life is disposable, and that the things we consume could ever be separate from us.
Can you bury yourself in it?
My heart’s weighing heavy, my heart it does bleed. Though it’s in my mind’s eye where pain made its seat. With clear signs a-plenty, why didn't we concede? Unheeded the warnings, we're down on our knees. O dreadful the reaping of all we have sown. The burden of knowing that we’ve always known. The time’s almost up now, the reckoning is here. The time’s almost up now, the end must be near. Farewell to the sunrise, farewell butterfly. Farewell to the corals and birds in the sky. Farewell to the glaciers, farewell to the bees. Farewell to the rivers and the summer breeze. Farewell to the saplings, farewell to the fern. Farewell to the meadows. For all these I yearn. The time’s almost up now, the reckoning is here. The time’s almost up now, the end must be near. The oceans are boiling, the heat does not cease. The waters have risen, the levees were breached. A-thirsting, a-drowning, a-burning, a-freeze. The earth is exhausted, unfruitful the seeds. That smoke in the distance, will soon us here reach. And through the inferno it’s you that I’ll seek. The time’s almost up now, the reckoning is here. The time’s almost up now, embrace me my dear. The doors off their hinges, the pavements all cracked. The cities are empty where once they were packed. Vast landscapes of wreckage. The seasons are gone. Our song’s almost over, we must scavenge on. A-toiling for shelter, to eat only dust. Remember, remember, remember we must. The time’s almost up now, the reckoning is here. The time’s almost up now, the end must be… The ending arrives now, so kiss me my dear.
Enfin, la terre est la cause de tous les conflits. Land is at the root of all conflicts.
Can we decolonise mud, dirt, black?
Considering how lichens grow and live only using what they need (Robin Wall Kimmerer), do you find inspiration in them regarding ways of living?