SAMISCHEN, MALEN, MÄSTEN
an instruction
Crush Stones. Dissolve clay. Dissolve loam. Sift the sand. Mix it all together. Add eggs, sugar, oats. Now the mudd is sticky and colourful – like the earth was before. It needs to be applied with a brush. Or sprayed with bottles.
Worn away by the weather, the rain, the wind. Carried away by ants. Eaten by birds.
The sugar, the eggs, the oats disappear and all along writings, posters, signs. Only the soil remains. And after hours, after days, after weeks everything is as it was before.
| student: | Judith Burgard |
| project: | (con)temporary crust |
| year: | 2021 |
| Material: | earth and rock on site, eggs, sugar, oat flakes |
| Method of manufacturing: | crush and mix according to instructions, then brush or spray |
| Temporal aspect: | Mixing and application in minutes. Disintegration and removal in hours/days/weeks – depending on weather and behaviour of animals on site. |
full concept text
No poison gets distributed. Just the soil and its colours are brought to the wall. It works as a sign, as a poster, as graffiti, as a doodling. Now there are signs, which are created for events that don‘t take longer than hours, posters that have nothing to announce some weeks later, and doodles that only make sense for one single moment. Marks were created that disappear when they have served their purpose. By time. Washed away by rain, carried away by ants, eaten as bird food. With the animals coming, the writing slowly disappears.
There are two sets of instructions, describing the procedure of making colour from sandy and stony or loamy earth. Low-tech with a hammer and a sieve. With a plant sprayer and a painter’s brush. Show the preparation with tools that almost everyone already owns. All of it is simple and replaceable. Components can be substituted, can be omitted.
The colours were created at and with the place. They are different in each area, but always suitably, since only the pigments existing there are used. Variations and gradations of it. Depending on the concentration and method of preparation. The more intensive the colour looks, the more concentrated. The weaker, the more diluted the soil appears. Enriched with sugar and oats, they become animal feed. And slowly carried away by the birds. When its eaten up, it’s cleaned up.
Graffiti made of earth. Graffiti as bird food is a little less cool. And a lot less harmful!