CONTINUOUS COMPOST
single-channel or multichannel triptych
video/sound 9:14
2019
Continuous Compost is a non-narrative triptych or single-channel video that documents and aestheticizes the cycle of converting “waste” into rich fertile soil. The video illustrates composting at three very different scales. Acres of decomposing piles of mulch mixed with chicken manure depict the large-scale composting operation at Siembra Farms, a local organic CSA farm. I examine this compost pile from a very macro and micro perspective. Hard working insects and fungi are contrasted with mystical, fecund steaming piles of developing soil. In the next video, abandoned chickens feed on food scraps collected from local restaurants and then excrete on an ever growing pile of nascent soil at Grow Hub, a non-for-profit plant nursery staffed with adults living with disabilities. And finally, the third video illustrates composting on a very personal scale in my backyard where my domestic waste is transformed into soil, a co-created enterprise between humans, animals, plants, and microbes.
