Barney Pau

Ecology On the scent: using design to reveal changing plant-pollinator relationships By Eliza Collins As the world around us changes, we often perceive these shifts through our primary senses: sight and sound. However, much of nature’s transformation is subtle, or invisible, occurring beyond the reach of our immediate perception. Experts including professors Kathryn Yusoff and Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing have both highlighted the need for new ways to notice and understand these beyond-human worlds.

My grandparents’ home was a magical realm. It was a solid old place with an open basement and a wild backyard that my grandpa tried to keep under control. Despite their ample library and my grandma’s special butter spaghetti, it was a cold house – partly thanks to the altitude. At 1,300 m above sea level, it sat on the eastern slopes of Costa Rica’s central valley. From their sitting room, while wrapped in a heavy blanket and sipping hot cocoa, you could see city lights in the distance.

Stepping into SOIL: The World at Our Feet certainly feels like you’ve entered the subterranean. Located in Somerset House’s basement gallery, the hall’s cool quiet offers a contrast to the harsh din of London’s Embankment, thronged by HGVs and idling cars. The exhibition, on view until April 13th, 2025, explores the manifold worlds contained in soil and its role in sustaining life on earth. Soil in art isn’t new. Some of our earliest examples of art, cave paintings, involved soil as a medium.