Asad Raza: Absorption

This tactile and sensory artwork brings the ground beneath us into the foreground, drawing our attention to the living and changing nature of soil.

The work constitutes almost 300 tonnes of organic and inorganic material, including sand, silt, clay, phosphates, lime, spent grain, cuttlebone, legumes, coffee and green waste, combined into a new soil mixture or ‘neosoil’.

Throughout the project a group of ‘cultivators’ are tasked with mixing, nurturing and tending to the soil. Visitors are encouraged to bring a box, bag or bucket to take as much soil as they’d like for their own gardens.

Developed in collaboration with a team of scientists at the University of Sydney Institute of Agriculture, Absorption transforms the Clothing Store into a site for active processes, collaborations and conversations. Within the world created by Absorption, Raza has invited artists Daniel Boyd, Chun Yin Rainbow Chan, Megan Alice Clune, Dean Cross, Brian Fuata, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Jana Hawkins-Andersen, Khaled Sabsabi and Ivey Wawn to create interventions in the form of installations, performances and experiments.

Soil Take Home

To ensure the project lives on beyond the Clothing Store, Raza is inviting visitors to bring their own box, bag or barrow to collect some of the 300 tonnes of nutrient-rich soil that make up the work.

Visit Absorption on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May to take home as much soil as you like for your own pot plants, garden or home project.

Presented by Kaldor Public Art Projects and Carriageworks.