Dirt Process

Dirt

Challenge: Create a project which incorporates this can of dirt.

I chose to begin this process, as I would any design project, by gathering information on "forest" soil in general as well as the specific site (which was initially inaccurate).  The location this soil was taken from is Happy Hollow Park in West Lafayette, IN

 Analysis

Based on personal experience with what I believed to be the site as well as a curiosity to see what was in the can, I began a careful analysis of the contents of the soil.  It was initially communicated that the site from which the dirt was taken was Horticulture Park on Purdue University's campus.  This created and managed park includes a wealth of information for horticulturists and interested members of the public through extensive plant labels (including QR codes).  In archival-like fashion, I began to separate components of the soil and isolate them with thoughts of potentially labeling and/or cataloging them for future use.

Among the soil contents that I separated and carefully placed in the pictured boxes were shells, leaves in various stages of decomposition, roots, seeds, and tiny living creatures.  Over time these soil components have and will continue to decompose in their boxes rendering the question on whether they will all look the same as some point in time.  

Shelter

Upon the realization that the site was actually Happy Hollow Park, my perception of the land and the project changed dramatically.  My connection to Happy Hollow Park is a personal association of childhood play, community, and family.  I spent many summer afternoons playing in the shelter of these woods, exploring and creating our own trails.  I realized that my project needed to incorporate aspects of shelter and exploration.  While I knew from the beginning that this project would be site specific and contextual, it became clear how I can use my spatial knowledge as an Interior Designer to begin developing the project.  

This journey highlighted an awareness of my fundamental attitude toward what I perceive as science and nature.  While both parks are man-made and managed, the planned, scientifically labeled, approach to Horticulture Park represented for me a narrow-view of science/nature which fosters a detachment and disembodied read of the "natural world".  This park is, not just obviously, man-made and managed but that particular aspect of its condition is celebrated in its being.  Happy Hollow, on the other hand, represented experiential exploration and connection.  While my reactions and rational for those reactions are fundamentally flawed in many respects, the fact that these were my first reactions are interesting grounds to explore throughout the project process.    

I quickly took to the materials available in my back yard to begin experimenting with structure and shelter.  My first priority was to see if I could make something stand without anchoring it into the ground.  This, naturally, lead to a tripod shape.  For many reasons, this is not what I want the final product to be.  

While I liked the play on light that was starting to be developed as well as the use of smaller sticks as a backdrop, I became fascinated with the fresh leaves scattered around.  I realized I could begin creating a "floor" out of the forest floor.  offset by the rich, black, soil, the color could really stand out. 

       

This sent me in a slightly different direction, but I still need to figure out how to create more of a canopy.  I keep imagining more of a cured shelter or opening.  Here are a few sketches I started to make.

Inspiration

At this point I knew I needed some additional inspiration - who better to look at that Andy Goldsworthy. 

  

This work not only will help me think about ways to experiment with stick structures but also to play with color.  

Leaves

Looking at the site images again, I began wondering if a stick arch or structure of some sort with a colorful "floor" was the right move.   What if I were to weave colorful leaves together in a canopy that gradated from bright green to the dark rust of early decay - this could be draped or suspended such that the rust color began draping down almost, if not actually, touching the ground.   The natural hillside of the site produces horizontal bursts of green at varying elevations.  The canopy could work within that frame.  The boxes of separated soil segments could be sheltered under the protection of this canopy - maybe supported by rocks/sticks/leaves as a low sculptural base.  

I began to experiment by gathering leaves in my back yard, taking inventory of them, by arranging them by color.

I began experimenting with weaving them together by breaking their stems and using those as the thread or tack.  

This was a failed experiment.  This type of tack approach works well if you are stringing a single line or wreath, not a fabric.  I need to find another way to string them together.  It also became obvious that I have some other important decisions to make before I started the weaving process anyway.  I decided not to focus on one type of leaf, but see if I could create texture using leaves from different trees.  I wonder, however, if I should work to keep them all in a similar orientation rather than a random scatter.  Should I keep the overlap to a minimum?  Should I gradate or overlay?

One of my trees produces a small berry.  What are the opportunities for those?  When I do begin weaving do I want to find a resource from my yard or what does it say if I use a traditional thread?  Do I transport my "nature" into another "nature" or do I complete everything onsite? 

Until I begin answering these questions, my back porch will continue to look like this

My hair threaded through a needle works well to stitch the leaves together.  This will need to be completed 1 hair at a time.  I need to figure out how to tie off the hair when I am done to keep it from breaking through the leaf and unraveling.  I have, honestly, never been much of a sewer...

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Using hair and a needle also allows me to incorporate the berries. 

Sewing with hair works well (although I had to do a quick crash course in sewing techniques), but I also found that a blade of decorative fountain grass also works.  I was afraid the grass blade would be too large, but it is rigid enough to poke a clean hole and stabilize the leaves along a strand.  I need to refine the way I connect each strand.  This appears to be the quickest method.  The leaves change rapidly, after two days the color is completely altered.  While I want this as part of the end-result/life of the project, I want the initial installation to be "fresh".