John-Paul Brown, Michelle Harrison, Aidan Keith, Sophy King, Jane Lawson, Margaret O’Brien

The group is centred on a common, yet varied interest in soil, consisting of a group of artists and a soil ecologist, based at the UK centre for ecology and hydrology (UKCEH). Soil cores are the somewhat abstract and subjective sampling unit in soil ecology, that allows us to ‘see’ into the soil. Following a site visit to UKCEH, the group focused on investigating soil life and structure. Rudimentary wormeries, or mesocosms, were made from soil samples and worms collected from various sites around Manchester, were layered with fluorescent material, to explore the dynamic nature of soil and make visible what is usually hidden; inviting the viewer to leave terra firma and transport themselves underground.