DIRT(Y) HANDS – Design exploration for human & soil reconnection
Centred on the soil ecosystem and exploring the current relational dynamics between the natural and human worlds, “Dirt(y) Hands” materializes through a visual guide for reconnection with soil.
The project, documents different agricultural processes, advocating for the relational transformative power and social change they convey. It observes the current relationship between society-culture and soil-nature by mapping the practice of conventional agriculture and explores the future of this relationship, aiming to reconnect and alter its dynamics by employing regenerative agricultural practices and various artistic methods as a design methodology for physical and metaphysical reconnection.
Soil plays a central role as the physical body on which these techniques are practiced. Its organic characteristics allow recording the influence of chosen agricultural methodology on it and delineating the type of relationship that develops. Soil offers the opportunity for tangible interaction with nature, and is identified within this project as a material capable of bridging the human world with the natural ecosystem, as the body on which every living being gravitates and lives.
Agriculture is the most diffuse way of interacting with soil and it is the condition for which soil is most, affected and changed. Different ways of farming are leading to different interactions and consequences capable of shaping the environment and affecting the social perception of this material-ecosystem.
Conventional-traditional-industrial agriculture, that is the most diffuse way of farming, poses significant environmental challenges related to climate impact as it disrupts the delicate balance of soil ecosystems. Through an aggressive approach, it contributes to a significant release of CO2 in the atmosphere, leading to soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, and soil depletion.
In this climate crisis scenario, where the international community struggles to interact with the ecosystem without taking part in the operation of natural destructive practices, a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness between society and soil ecosystem is needed.
Reconnecting humanity with the natural world demands a comprehensive grasp of soil’s pivotal role in ecological balance, advocating for a transition towards regenerative agricultural practices and fostering a holistic symbiotic relationship between society and the environment.
Regenerative agriculture actively promotes soil and ecosystem health, emphasizing restoration and carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change, biodiversity loss, and minimal soil disturbance to enhance soil health and produce high-quality yields sustainably.
Dirt(y) Hands aim to guide individuals towards experiential engagement with soil and promoting a sense of responsibility and care towards it, all within the framework of a design methodology aimed at fostering curiosity, exploration, and personal experimentation with sustainable agricultural practices as a means of cultivating a harmonious coexistence with the natural world.
“How can design examine soil outcomes resulting from conventional agriculture to better understand the complex relationship between culture-society and soil-nature, and which practices can be potential tools for reconnection between these actors on a smaller scale?”
Manifesting as a “Visual Guide for Reconnection with Soil”, this design project is unfolding in a series of different workshops, that are leading the participants to gradually connect with soil through the experimental practice of a methodology that extend in drawing, photography, body exploration, regenerative farming, and experience-ritual design.
The guide purpose is to provide data and images to encourage individuals to take experimental, tangible, and regenerative actions on a small scale to facilitate local and personal change.
The “Visual Guide for Reconnection with Soil” is realized in paper, and its front and back cover is surrounded by soil, to allow users to start coming into contact with the earthy material only by touching the guide.
Relationships are based on personal perceptions and experiences; the open structure of the guide present the possibility to be adapted to any personal need and comfort to foster a more deep and durable connection with the soil ecosystem, based on individuals emotions and senses.
Read the full guide: Visual guide for reconnection with soil.
