Earth-Bound

This project used soil chromatography to explore place, identity, and mobility. Soil chromatography is a technique used to assess soil health and vitality by analysing the patterns and characteristics of a soil sample after it has been processed with a specific solution and allowed to separate on filter paper. It is a visual method, described as creating a "picture" of the soil's composition, with different components separating into distinct zones and patterns.

Soil is considered here both as a scientific material and as a record of geographic, social, and political histories. The project examines what it means to “feel grounded” through the materiality of soil and the places to which we belong. It responds to the concept of the Panicocene (Giacomelli, 2023), in which climate change and migration are framed as overlapping crises. Visual aesthetics across media often reinforce this narrative, contributing to anxiety, othering and exclusion. The project considers soil as a medium for examining and challenging these representations.

We invited participants to work with soil chromatography and microscopy to analyse soil samples extracted from meaningful locations to them. These methods make visible the chemical and structural composition of soil, to reflect on environmental, personal, and historical contexts and their relationship to climate and (im)mobility.