Beauty in the Gutters
Soil Blind, a collaborative work by three Aztecs, is currently displayed at the Woodbury School of Architectures San Diego campus in Barrio Logan.
鈥淪oil Blind,鈥� a collaborative work by three Aztecs, is currently displayed at the Woodbury School of Architecture鈥檚 San Diego campus in Barrio Logan.
Artists Jonathan Austin, 鈥�03, and Jeremy Gercke, 鈥�01, worked with David Lipson, 黑料吃瓜 professor of ecology and soil biology, to create the installation.
A seasonal work
It consists of more than 100 ceramic modules filled with dirt and connected by cables suspended from a steel frame. Forming a structure that mimics a blind for bird watching, the installation is timed to coincide with the spring season of new growth, insect pollination and bird migration.
The modules, filled with dirt from the gutters of Barrio Logan, are a fertile seed bank with the potential to grow grasses, groundcovers and more substantial plants.
鈥淪oil in the urban environment is not unlike soil outside of the city, but the history and origin become harder to pinpoint,鈥� Lipson said. 鈥淭he scientific analysis of this gutter debris gives us important information about the soil and where it comes from.鈥�
On display through June
The title of the work conveys the artists鈥� intent to preserve wildlife in the urban setting, Austin said. Present in the soil is a vast, unseen microbial community of brightly colored bacteria that play a vital role in the urban ecosystem and even shape the way the soil behaves and smells.
鈥淪oil Blind鈥� is on display through June at the on Main Street in downtown San Diego.
