Our entire existence is dependent on our relationship with soil. As awareness builds of the enormity of the ecological crisis that we are facing, a growing number of artists are engaging with soil as a material in their work.  This three part series responds to the Somerset House exhibition ‘Soil: The World at Our Feet’, unearthing soil's role in our future through the work of artists and thinkers working with it.

Soil is the basis of many creation stories around the world. It is our beginning, and it is what we will return to. In Episode 1 of Common Ground we look at soil as the matter from which life emerges. Exploring growth, beginnings and the ways soil as a material offers unique opportunities for exploration. 

We hear from artist Asad Raza who makes ‘neo-soil’ from scratch and covers the floor of galleries with it. Artist Eve Tagny’s work examines the cultivation of the Rose as a way to ask questions about the ways we interact with the world. Agroecologist Nicole Masters and farmer Abby Rose, lay out what soil is and why it holds the key to our survival. 

The episode is set within the garden of our presenter Shenece Oretha. Working with soil has shaped her relationship to the place where she lives and informed her art practice. 

The series launches off from the Somerset House exhibition SOIL: The World at Our Feet.

Presented by Shenece Oretha

Produced by Jo Barratt and Alannah Chance 

Exec produced by Alannah Chance and Eleanor Ritter-Scott. 

The series is mixed by Mike Woolley

Original music by Andrew Pekler

Episode Image: Asda Raza - credit Luca Guadagnini.