The latest exhibition at Somerset House invites visitors to dig beneath the surface of soil, a hot topic for many a terroir-obsessed drink lover.
‘Soil: The World at Our Feet’ is part of the London institution’s 25th anniversary programming, with exhibitions promising to showcase ‘artists and thinkers who have an alternative way of considering the world,’ according to Somerset House’s director of exhibitions, Dr Cliff Lauson (the cultural hub also has a sideways look at salt slated for later in the year.)
What is the relationship between humans and soil? What is there we still don’t know about the earth beneath us? Could soil even hold the antidote to climate catastrophe? These are all questions the exhibition aims to explore through visual art and sound installations from over 50 global and local artists and collaborations with leading soil scientists. ‘Soil holds a deep fascination for artists – and scientists have only scratched the surface of their understanding of it,’ says Claire Catterall, senior curator at Somerset House.
The show begins by going in deep, depicting micro-organisms in striking close-up photography and inviting visitors to peer through binoculars for a closer look at what the human eye can’t see in our soil.
The sound installation that follows from musician Michael Prime explores the connectivity between plant and soil, the artist having amplified the tiny electrical currents exchanged between root systems, soil, fungi and beyond. It’s paired with microscopic time-lapse footage of seed germination usually unseen by the naked eye, captured by Dutch artist Wilm van Egmond. The room zaps and fizzes with alien noise, giving the immediate impression of uncharted territory.
A further fungi-themed room hosts a mind-blowing computer-generated visualisation of mycelium root systems, an original commission for the show depicting these advanced symbiotic networks thronging through the earth. Accompanying rainforest sounds and the dancing of twinkly lights on the screen provide a mushroom trip of a completely different kind.
Individual works paint a compelling collective picture of the diversity to be found in our earth. There’s Kim Norton’s Soil Library, a gathering of porcelain pinch pots created from 100-gram soil samples taken across the UK and Europe, the resulting artefacts shifting seismically in their tone and texture. Or Trilogies, a series of 12 works that compare and contrast core samples and subsoils from Athens, Beirut and Paris. Along the way we encounter weeds and roses, bees and bugs; expect to have your opinion on worms challenged upon witnessing their mesmerising movements up-close on film.
As the exhibition zooms out from the microscopic view, we’re taken on a macroscopic journey, exploring how soil impacts daily lives around the world – and the ways in which we as humans have abused our side of the relationship. One of the most striking exhibits is a video installation captured in Burkina Faso by artist Maeve Brennan that shows a newborn foal taking its first breaths in a veritable sea of plastics and waste scattered across the earth.
Nevertheless, the power of regeneration, the cycles of nature and the sense of community we can find through communing with the land stand out as themes early on that carry their way through to the end of the exhibition. One video explores a fascinating project in Southern Mexico where the use of agrochemicals has caused the stark erosion of the land. Fernando Laposse’s work in planting hardy agave plants to help restore the earth’s balance also saw him develop a secondary use for pruned succulent leaves, fashioning popular hairy furniture from the plant’s byproduct, sisal. Coming full circle, these designer items are now generating the funds for this continued planting project.
The Land Gardeners (Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy) are co-curators for the exhibition, a plucky pair of ‘rogue gardeners’ who have turned their focus to researching plant and soil health, and helping farmers and gardeners in their regenerative efforts. They claim soil to be ‘the future’, and their wish is that a world map highlighting ‘100 voices doing incredible things with soil’ will leave visitors with a lasting feeling of hope at the exhibition’s finale.
An events programme is set to run throughout the season and sees talks and film screenings, planting schemes and a celebration of soil and taste taking place at Skye Gyngell’s on-site restaurant Spring with Familia Torres, a winery that has been ploughing the furrow of regenerative grape growing, pairing wines at the evening event.
On the whole, ‘Soil: The World at Our Feet’ offers fresh perspectives and poignant moments for novices and self-proclaimed soil experts. It shows soil to be integral to daily life, and a whole lot more than merely dirt – in fact, at times I was taken aback with how majestic its appearance can be. And while the exhibition probably poses more questions than it answers, isn’t the beauty of soil itself held in its very mystery?
Soil: The World at Our Feet is at Somerset House in London until 13 April 2025. Visit the Somerset House website for further info and tickets.
