University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2015 Soils and Interventions Lancaster, Linus http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/4761 Plymouth University All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. SOILS AND INTERVENTIONS By LINUS WILLIAM LANCASTER A Dissertation Submitted to the University of Plymouth For Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Center for Advanced Inquiry in Interdisciplinary Arts January, 2014 1 Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author's prior consent 2 Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions Dissertation Abstract The problem that I have identified during my research for this dissertation is the quantifiable depletion and exhaustion of large percentages of the world's soils through human activity in agriculture and other industrial practices. In the course of researching this problem I have looked closely at some of the primary causes, and a range of proposed and applied solutions in the field of ecology. The primary focus of the research has been in looking at how artists have responded to ecological issues and have engaged in environmental activism in their practices. Integral to the research has been direct participation in collaborative art practices that investigate and strive to raise public awareness about issues related to soil ecology. It has proceeded through reading established texts, interviewing expert practitioners, publishing my findings, and presenting at numerous conferences, concurrently with direct participation in ecologically oriented practices, related artistic projects, professional art exhibits, activist events, and working in the field of professional organic farming. During the research phase I attended nine Planetary Collegium Sessions with fellow researchers and received valuable direction from supervising professors. The result is a written, theoretical dissertation that documents the research through text and photography in seven chapters. It has also produced a body of sculptures and documented physical experiments and performances that are motivated by, and speak directly to issues of soil ecology. The efficacy of the artwork that has been made in the course of researching problems in soil ecology comes from its continuation of, and direct participation in, established, contemporary art projects and movements that have had a demonstrable influence of society. The contribution that it makes to new knowledge is by addressing in unique ways the emerging subject of soils, which have tended to be overlooked in many ecological discussions, and in so doing it also brings to bear a unique combination of influences in its practice. These include: Art practice, Situationist performances, Core Shamanic practice (as developed by Michael Harner), soil science, inspiration drawn from a number of continental theorists, participation in sustainable agriculture, and political activism, applied simultaneously in a transdisciplinary body of work described herein specifically on behalf of soils. In this endeavor the dissertation and its body of produced objects and performances has also sought to blur some of the conventional lines between theoretical research, contemplation and practice, as appropriate to a trans-disciplinary project. Numerous discoveries have been made in the course of the research, chief among them that the new transdisciplinary approach to soil studies that my collaborators and I have taken turns out to be of necessity if we are to avert large-scale collapses of agriculture due to soil degradation on a global scale in the course of this century. 3 Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions List of Plates (All artwork and photography by Linus Lancaster unless otherwise noted). Figure 3-1 Pedon Profile Figure 3-2 Dirt Gallery "Pedon" Figure 3-3 Sonoma County Soil Survey Map (Courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service/Sonoma) Figure 3-4 Zamora Clay Loam Profile, Foss Creek Figure 3-5 Seed Bomb Figure 4-1 Olla Irrigation Jars Figure 4-2 Seed Bombs (Student Collaborations) Figure 4-3 Seed Bombing (Student Collaborations) Figure 4-4 Occupy Santa Rosa (Photo by Mari Lancaster) Figure 4-5 Marches Against Monsanto Figure 4-6 Occupy/Idle No More Sebastopol Figure 5-1 Listening to Materialities, Yosemite Installation (Photo by Frederick Young) Figure 5-2 Listening to the Merced River, Concord Figure 5-3 Suburban Drain (Photos by Frederick Young) Figure 5-4 Suburban Drain, Listening to the Merced River, Concord Figure 5-5 Healdsburg High Altitude Balloon Project Figure 6-1 Dirt Gallery (Soil-Body Jars & Dirt Display) Figure 6-2 Dirt Gallery Figure 6-3 Dirt Gallery (Displays) Figure 6-4 Meatline Figure 6-5 Jangseung Painting Figure 6-6 Jangseung Figure 6-7 Jangseung Pair Figure 6-8 Pedons Figure 6-9 Consulate Projects, Korea (Certificates of Authenticity) Figure 6-10 Dirt Shrines Figure 6-11 Five Looking West Exhibit, Seoul Figure 6-12 Five Looking West Exhibit, Chris Sarley Ceramics Figure 6-13 Five Looking West Exhibit, Marilyn Hulbert Photography Figure 6-14 Five Looking West Exhibit, Lois Lancaster Book Art/Print Figure 6-15 Five Looking West Exhibit, Mary Pettis-Sarley Ceramics Figure 6-16 Five Looking West Exhibit, Linus Lancaster Figure 6-17 Animalities Field Concert 4 Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions List of Plates (continued) Figure 6-18 Animalities Projection Figure 6-19 Painting with Dawn Figure 6-20 Diving with TZARA Figure 6-21 TZARA-2 Figure 6-22 Gladys 2 Figure 6-23 TZARA-3 Figure 6-24 Gladys with TZARA-3 Figure 6-25 Listening to the Merced River Figure 6-26 Listening to the Merced River (TZARA-3) Figure 6-27 Yosemite Valley Listening "Monument" Figure 6-28 Carnevale Pataphysique Figure 6-29 Listening to Crane Creek (Temujin Licklider) 5 Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions List of Contents Chapter One - Introduction Pages 9-20 Chapter Two - Methodologies Pages 21-54 Chapter Three - Soils and Agriculture Pages 55-96 Chapter Four - Soils and Ecology Pages 97-181 Chapter Five - Soils and Art Interventions Pages 182-231 Chapter Six - Soils and Liminal Performativities Pages 232-316 Chapter Seven - Conclusions Page 317-328 Bibliography 6 Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions Acknowledgements The work for this dissertation would not have been possible without the generous support of my wife, Mari Lancaster and my family, Lew Lancaster, Lois Lancaster, Anne Lancaster, Nayo and Hassna. It was also thanks the guidance and encouragement of Professors Roy Ascott, Mike Phillips, and Jane Grant at Plymouth University, UK. I also wish to thank Frederick Young, Mary Pettis-Sarley, Chris Sarley, Marilyn Hulbert, the Healdsburg Unified School District Board of Trustees, the Healdsburg Education Foundation, the Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Sheelo and Ahmayo Bohm, Michael Harner, Marti Spiegleman, The Korean Cultural Foundation, Mr. Yang and the Korean Consulate of San Francisco, Charlie Dottie, John Bucher, Becky Deniz, Randy Masselink, Glen Schaezlein, Rand Derrico (Syar Vineyard), Robert Weiss, David Pisano, Mark Glaeser, Jack Burns, Temujin Licklider, Sue Vargas, Tim Dimock, Domenichelli Masonry, Brooks Quarry, Mark Allen, Tirza Latimer, Roger Bell, Jan Nunn, Mike McKamie, Lowell Darling, Peter Maravelis (City Lights Books), Bill Talen, Igor Vamos, and Jacques Servin, Annie, Dawn, Gladys, and soil. 7 Linus Lancaster Soils and Interventions Author's Declaration At no time during the registration for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has the author been registered for any other University award without prior agreement of the Graduate Committee. Work submitted for this research degree at the Plymouth University has not formed part of any other degree either at Plymouth University or at another establishment. Relevant academic seminars and conferences were regularly attended at which work was often presented; external institutions were visited for consultation purposes and several papers prepared for publication. Publications: Lancaster, Linus. The Real Dirt on Land and Location. Trondheim: Intellect Books, 2010. Lancaster, Linus & Frederick Young. Listening to Animalities, Soils, and Shipwrecks. Porto: Intellect Books, 2011. Lancaster, Linus & Frederick Young. Listening to Animalities, Soils, and Shipwrecks (Phase 2). Lisbon: Intellect Books, 2012. Presentation sessions and Conferences Attended: Research presentation sessions and Consciousness Reframed Conferences: Munich 2009, Porto 2010, Plymouth 2010, Trondheim 2010, Kefalonia 2011, Shanghai 2011, Lisbon 2011, Kefalonia 2012, Plymouth 2012. Additional Conference Presentations: Pacific Neighborhood Consortium/ECAI, Berkeley, California 2012. Deep Listening Institute Conference, Troy, NY. 2013. Word count of main body of the thesis: 63, 369 words Signed__Linus W. Lancaster______ Date____January,_2014__________ 8 Chapter One Soils and Interventions Introduction The problem that my research has identified is the