ABSTRACT
Field to Palette: Dialogues on Soil and Art in the Anthropocene is an investigation of the cultural meanings, representations, and values of soil in a time of planetary change. The book offers critical reflections on some of the most challenging environmental problems of our time, including land take, groundwater pollution, desertification, and biodiversity loss. At the same time, the book celebrates diverse forms of resilience in the face of such challenges, beginning with its title as a way of honoring locally controlled food production methods championed by "field to plate" movements worldwide. By focusing on concepts of soil functionality, the book weaves together different disciplinary perspectives in a collection of dialogue texts between artists and scientists, interviews by the editors and invited curators, essays and poems by earth scientists and humanities scholars, soil recipes, maps, and DIY experiments. With contributions from over 100 internationally renowned researchers and practitioners, Field to Palette presents a set of visual methodologies and worldviews that expand our understanding of soil and encourage readers to develop their own interpretations of the ground beneath our feet.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section 1|122 pages
Sustenance: Soil as provider of food, biomass and all forms of nourishment
chapter |14 pages
Temple of Holy Shit
section 2|116 pages
Repository: Soil as source of energy, raw materials, pigments, and poetry
chapter |12 pages
Painting with Earth
chapter |10 pages
Mineral Traces
section 3|110 pages
Interface: Soil as site of environmental interaction, filtration and transformation
chapter |18 pages
The Waterviz for Hubbard Brook
chapter |10 pages
Rocks, Radishes, and Restoration
section 4|94 pages
Home: Soil as habitat, biological hotspot, and gene pool
chapter |10 pages
Soiled
chapter |14 pages
Future Worlds
section 5|112 pages
Heritage: Soil as embodiment of cultural memory, identity, and spirit
chapter |12 pages
Lessons from Emma Lake
section 6|123 pages
Stabilizer: Soil as platform for structures, infrastructures, and socioeconomic systems