Day 3 Soil Conference, Photo from British Society of Soil Science LinkedIn Post

The Basis for All Life and Fertile Growth: Interest for Art/Science Collaborations Blossom at The British Society of Soil Science Conference 2025

Field Report by: Olivia Ann Carye Hallstein 

“Are you a gardener?” Asks a man offering seeds. I took three: a flower, a pepper and an herb; healthy soil’s delicious gifts. And as discussions of soil remediation permeated the dull walls of this multi-floor conference building, reassurance of interconnected and ubiquitous life brightened the rooms with hope. This was hope made of growth, healing and the magic beneath our feet. Art brings things to life, I am told, the world needs to know about our soils, art can bring people closer to this planet and help restore it. “Both art and science imagine possibilities” Rebecca Hearn tells me with glistening eyes.

Manchester is an ironic backdrop for a soil science conference. A city haunted by its industrial past, rare greenspace dots a city center filled with tall repurposed mill and factory buildings. Still students and creative souls are vibrant in a backdrop of grungey and damp red brick dotted with murals. This backdrop was the overarching ghost that haunted these soil scientists as they dedicate their lives to challenge industrial farming practices like tillage, compaction, runoffs, and overfertilization with experiments proving the benefits of crop biodiversity, field rotation, and nature-based solutions. Many face the contamination in British soils head on as they measure how micro-plastics enter the soil as litter begins to break-down, and the arsenic, lead, asbestos, heavy metals, tars, cyanide and hydrocarbons industry left behind. 

I thought of the seeds I was gifted, their nourishment completely dependent the soil’s health they grow within. The participants shared a disappointment in people’s common ignorance: how many urbanites have never touched soil or know how their food is grown; and how many rural communities have decreasing access to healthy soil, and lack knowledge to make thriving black earth. 

Jo Pearl’s exhibition table at BSSS Conference 2025, photo: Hallstein

And yet, I am told that soil is becoming more visible and interesting, as the basis for all life and the fertile beginnings for nourishing ourselves and our world. Exhibitions like the recent “SOIL” exhibit at Somerset House emphasized this. ecoartspace member Jo Pearl exclaimed, “People want to talk about Soil! Even the King!”. Her work “Dirty Secret” will travel across Europe in the exhibition Soil Art Tales funded by the EU’s Mission Soil (www.SoilTribes.eu) this spring. On this and other projects, Jo explained in her presentation: “When people feel things, they act. Art is a way to get people to feel things and to shift perspectives. In a germaphobic world, how do we get people to see what is underneath our feet? If the biome could speak, I imagine the worms would say ‘Save Our Soil’.”


Daro Montag’s installation at BSSS Conference 2025, photo: Hallstein

ecoartspace member Daro Montag reminded the crowd in his presentation that  “When thinking of art and soil, people may focus on colors – like pigments from the earth” His own work focuses on imaging soil microbes. His research has shown how “even older soil samples are very much alive.” Emphasizing the benefit of working across the two “cultures” of art and science –he spoke about a shared spring of curiosity and how bridging the discipline gap makes both richer. Excitedly, Daro went on with a call for reconnection “Soil is more important than most of us remember, not just underneath our feet, but as the basis for our very existence- soil exists on your minds, under your fingernails, and in your veins.”

Paul Granjon (Zprod.org) connected how important integrating audience participation is in making soil vitality visible and creating nature connection. His work as an artist and educator with Microbial Fuel Cells and Mud Batteries through bioelectrogenesis creates projects like moving robots fueled by the microbe in mud. Projects like Mud Machine wrekshops and singing solar powered compost greet primary school students and adults alike. He said “it helps when things move and flash to get people excited because the mud is alive” calling artists to promote their passions through practice. “Good times are important! People need a positive slant to focus on or these dire situations will not change,” he said “joy and excitement motivates through hope”.

Design is represented in mapping experiments and landscape projects that parallel our member artists’ focuses on sustainable development. Some scientists reimagine wasteful heavy industry as a space for activity, education, and leisure. There was a heavy emphasis on recycling, repurposing and regenerative practices as parts of net-zero and circular development. I learned that best practice emphasizes soil and concrete repurposing as well as green mulch that best practices are regenerative practices; to start with soil in order to reach net zero foundational design. “Soil is living, its not just spoil, it needs treating as a biologically important resource” said Jonathan Atkinson. 

A question from the crowd during a panel on Regenerative Agricultural Practices echoes the work of many ecoartspace members taking inspiration from indigenous and historical practices, “Can we look to the pre-industrial past and our ancestors for future innovations?” The response: There is amazing documentation of these practices, but it is not digitized so it is difficult for people to access. And, as images of porous and compacted earth pass by, I wonder: Is our exponential digital growth leading to a similar porous  knowledge base reflecting the porous and easily eroded lands industry produced? 

Weaving through posters in rows, topics are varied, but share a dedication to solution-oriented research and a deep passion for this planet. I learn that Artists are activating many of these spaces with poetry and land art, and are fostering these projects with their research-based creative practices. Arts Universities and creative organizations dotted the posters of many of the scientists. In fact, these fruitful collaborations brightened these researchers’ eyes, many seeking broader platforms to build public awareness and aide in saving our earth.

“In Collaboration for Restoration” Poster by Olivia Ann Carye Hallstein at BSSS Conference 2025, photo: Hallstein

At my poster on artists’ role in science, many scientists shyly whispered in my ear how they also like to draw or paint or work with ceramics as they passed me photos of their meticulously drawn landscapes. So, the “Soils Turn” book (available for purchase here) was well-suited to the scene. Many flipped through the book with excitement, buzzing with potential future collaborators and inspiration. My poster “In Collaboration for Restoration” drew a crowd excited to interact and respond to the questions I posed: “What Issues in Soil Science Should be Addressed by Artists?” And “What Unique Role Can Art Play in the Soil Science Field?” Responses revolved around how artists use their skills to communicate and grow connection.

“Soil has a PR problem. Art is a communication tool,” Jo says, “for me at least it both about beauty and communication.” And translation is necessary in collaboration between the two disciplines’ specified languages. A solution? Be unafraid to ask ‘what do you mean?’ and make sure there is clarity while working together and be open to learning new things and terms. Discussions about developing art and science collaborations, ask what is a good outcome? The scientists expressed hope on learning how to collaborate, build trust and spread trust between the disciplines. Most of all, they said, always remember that the goal is to bring what’s underneath to the surface by spreading the experience of getting your hands dirty, to engage people, and help change the way we think about soil not as ‘dirt’, but as something magical. A good result? Visitors getting excited about the complex world beneath their feet. 

Participants at Lecture in Main Hall at BSSS Conference 2025, Photo from BSSS Instagram Post

Some organizations and resources represented at the conference who are building collaborations between soil scientists and artists are:  IMPACT, University of Art London, Lancaster University, The National Trust, Somerset House, and Rothamsted Soil Archive.