The Near and the Elsewhere

Sub-project objectives

“The Near and the Elsewhere: Reading the Soil’s Unstable Archive” (NEA) is the title of the immersive installation REICHRICHTER will create for the German Soil Festival in collaboration with the sound artist duo Merzouga.

The idea behind the installation is to transform public perception of soil from a passive, two-dimensional surface into a dynamic, three-dimensional, and culturally rich archive. We aim to bridge the gap between abstract soil science and public consciousness by creating a profound aesthetic and emotional experience that makes the soil’s vitality, vulnerability, and deep timescale tangibly accessible.

We will create a novel way for art-science collaboration with our scientific advisor, the GD NRW, who will accompany the entire creative process and ensure that our methods and creations correctly represent scientific practice and the current state of scientific knowledge.

Challenges and how they will be addressed

In our everyday lives, soil is often reduced to a mere horizontal surface – paved over, built upon, and invisible. This alienation from the vertical dimension is a symptom of modernity. While the dynamics of the Earth have always been normal, humanity now expects a certain firmness of a landscape. This separation from the soil (through asphalt, sealing, and digital presence) leads to an unconscious uprooting. Soil awareness is critical because sustainable management of this finite resource requires a new, profound understanding of its dynamics and cultural significance. It is crucial to overcome this alienation and secure public welfare (Daseinsvorsorge), as policymakers need planning security regarding soil. Our project addresses this by making the soil tangible as a dynamic system and an irreplaceable cultural archive.

Expected outcomes

NEA will synthesize fieldwork and cultural inquiry into an immersive multimedia installation built of large-scale, artistic soil varnish profiles and a multi-channel sound composition.

The sensory experience is inspired by the idea that soil is a “humic reservoir of culture” – an archive that preserves (pre-) historical, social, and artistic traces – and at the same time a site of constant transformation.

These days, soil is reduced to a mere horizontal surface, paved over, built upon and invisible. Humans are alienated from the dynamic change processes of the Earth, instead expecting only firm and stable ground.

The artistic methodology will set probes into this ground, physical and intellectual, and move transgressively from the soil into the digital sphere and back into the concrete when the artwork materializes. Soil will again become tangible as a dynamic system and irreplaceable basis for human life. Beyond a mere flat landscape, a vertical perspective opens up to connect to the fragile, living materiality of the soil.