I was invited by Miranda Whall, artist and co-director of the Centre for Material Thinking at Aberystwyth University in Wales, to lead a soil chromatography workshop. The CMT brings together artists and scholars from a broad range of disciplines to explore how new modes of representation might bring about a greater awareness of human and non-human entanglements. They aim to open up a space for thinking about how material comes to matter in a range of socio-cultural and eco-political contexts are committed to creating a dialogue between academic and non-academic audiences.  

Participants in the workshop learned how to gather and identify local soils, how to make soil chromatograms and how to sense soil through a series of eco-phenomenological prompts and exercises. During the workshop,  we discussed the connections between ecologically driven art practices and the application of scientific and phenomenological methodologies to create art work.