Feedback

Does the excavation process make you feel part of the landscape?
"Sometimes, especially in rural locations, not so much in urban areas" Archaeologist

"Yes it literally sucks you in!"

What does the first incision feel like describe your thoughts.
"There is a long way to go!" Gardener

"Slight panic. If a digger is being used there is no going back. Excavating with a spade is less intrusive and you can go back" Garden Designer

"I think how long it must have taken the earth to get there and how quickly it takes me to dig it up" Labourer

If you were to choose one word that would describe how you feel when digging into the earth what would it be?

"Satisfaction"

"Curious"

"Intrusion"

I put together a short questionnaire to obtain insight from individuals who physically excavate the land as part of their work. Here are a few of the interesting comments! Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply.

"When the World Screamed"

This fictional story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle struck a cord with me. It tells the story of an arrogant Professor who embarks on a quest to bore down through the earth to eventually penetrate the earths crust. This destructive way of making the earth notice him as an individual culminates in a violent confrontation with the crust itself. Ironically it appropriates how we as individuals have a desire to make a mark within the world, although not as violent, we state our claim through dwellings, agriculture, conservation and any kind of physical penetration of the land.

On Going Processes




Clay, Embroidery Thread

I have challenged the traditional workings of the sewing machine and instead of using the machine to sew I utilized it to generate a weaving action. Using embroidery thread I produced organic free flowing forms of rotated thread that generate a 'boring down' aspect along with connotations of fossils and the imprints left within rocks. The earth around Horticap has a high content of clay and I have been exploring its capabilities. When rolled out it presents a perfect surface for creating textured markings and by pressing the embroidery thread forms into the clay a beautiful imprinted pattern is produced. Left to dry the clay cracks naturally and is reminiscent of the topography of maps; the fields and boundaries of the rural countryside.

 

Insight into the Excavation of the Land

The mark society makes on the landscape and the sense of belonging this process generates are key aspects that is driving my work. The forming of dwellings and structures and the physical penetration of the earth that this creates generates the basis of our place within the world.
Above are images taken from the first points of excavation in the construction of a new Recycling building at Horticap. These incisions represent the first physical stages of construction; a grounding to place and space. The building of the new recycling building is an addition to Horticaps existing presence on the land which has developed over the past 26 years.