Good-for-nothing Dirt’ is a story set near Dubbo on Wiradyuri Country in New South Wales, Australia.
The story of the soils on private property in the area was revealed over two months of observations
and recordings in the summer of 2023/24. At each listening site, cotton fabric samples were buried to
a depth of about 8cm. The resulting works were a soundscape composition (accompanied by an animated
video) of the soils and the environments they’re part of, and a chapbook of poetic prose about the
history, geology, ecology, land use, and experience of listening to the soils over two months. Macro
photos of the fabrics were published in the chapbook. The works were presented by ecoartspace at a
pop-up exhibition alongside the International Union of Soil Sciences Congress in Florence, Italy in
May 2024.
Excerpt from ‘Good-for-nothing Dirt": “Cracked open with a crowbar, soil runs like silk through
fingers — from rose pinks and greys to darker clumps of clay. Warm, acid, floury—tenuous and
rudimentary soils devoid of visible life. Silence holds the space of expectation. Pink galahs shriek
from cypress pines at the thought this dirt holds anything of worth.”
Read/listen/watch - https://eco-pulse.art/projects/soundofsoils/