May 28, 2021 - June 12, 2021
The Floor By Devin Harclerode and Maegan Trice
The Floor documents a season of caring for, tending to, and breaking down a cubic yard of soil via the collaboration of two soulmates, local herbalists, the moon, and void fractions. The energetic compost of the season (our relationship to the dirt and the subversion of bearing fruit) will be exited into the gallery via textiles, videos, sketch-hydes, and the skeletons of the breakdown.
Calling on the energy of the ‘omnipresent female force’ actualized by Ana Mendieta – The Floor documents two seasons of the physical and psychic decomposition of soil in preparation for a garden in the spring. Our communion with nature loops, seeking growth and process in lieu of scarcity and finitude. The Floor chronicles the refuse of our process, dismantling essentialist notions of womanhood in order to link the body and fruit of our soil with aggressive exits.
As we decompose, we ask:
Why do I care for (my/our) Body? To Bear Richer Fruit?
These questions relate specifically to colonialist and patriarchal allusions of self-sufficiency within (rugged) individual and small-scale farming. Our aggressive exit will seek to redefine “a richer fruit” away from the hetero-glossed labor power that is spun as maternal instinct. Instead, our focus is on the dirt – the decomposition of organic matter into fertile or anti-fertile ground.
Ultimately, we are looking to connect with nature in a way that is raw, beastly, and abject – shifting power between our bodies and the dirt to speculate on leaving mainstream systems instead of reforming them.
Click here to view the video that accompanies the installation.