LIGHTSCAPES / 21 February to 18 June 2017 at Rodda Lane
Empire of Dirt is a site-responsive research project and public artwork located in Rodda Lane, engaging both the public space and the Rodda Lane LIGHTSCAPES .
Empire Of Dirt is a site-responsive project, exploring the relationships between the ecology of the soil and the ecology of the architecture. This installation brings art and science into conversation with the construction site of RMIT’s New Academic Street. The research involved a collaboration between artist James Geurts and environmental microbiologist, Distinguished Professor Andy Ball at RMIT University.
The light-boxes works include laboratory research involving a soil sample taken directly from the site, images made at Rodda Lane and Litchfield National Park, and archival material. The sculptures migrate termite structures from the Northern Territory to colonise the Rodda Lane site.
Emerging from RMIT’s Centre for Art Society and Transformation, the project was supported by a number of partners, including Carbon Arts, RMIT’s New Academic Street’s Urban Animators: Living Laboratory program, and RMIT LIGHTSCAPES. The project is funded by Wonderment Walk
Victoria.
Empire of Dirt, has been developed in partnership with Wonderment Walk Victoria, CAST, Carbon Arts and the NAS Urban Animators:Living Laboratory and explores art, science, and the nature of construction excavation.