Of Earth, For Earth. OEFE exhibition and book

The Of Earth, For Earth exhibition was conceived as an important and final activity of the IMP@CT mining project and took place in March 2020 as an integral part of the final IMP@CT project’s conference. IMP@CT is a EU Horizon 2020 programme. Its acronym stands for integrated mobile modularised plant and containerised tools for selective, low-impact mining of small, high-grade deposits and involved a team from across Europe and the Balkans working on switch-on, switch-off mining approaches.

Art and mining are unusual bedfellows, but an open call evoked a fantastic response from artists across the UK. As the submissions for the exhibition arrived, the concept of the show began to take shape. Artist-led workshops were planned, and satellite sites considered. The venue was the engine house at Heartlands, with its atmospheric and evocative traces of past mining machinery and the inlaid tracks of trains crossing the concrete floor.

Six artists were chosen from the applications to exhibit, and a further five for inclusion in a multi-disciplinary book, which was published in December 2020.

Of Earth, For Earth is a full colour 115 page hardback book, and is a dialogue between artists, community representatives, industrialist and educators. It aims to inspire debate about human interactions with the Earth, while our consumption of resources grows ever larger and while the environments on which we depend face an uncertain future. This book speaks to our sense of belonging to place, time, natural and cultural heritage. It describes the geologically-grounded and contested places in which mining inspires expectations and hopes, or disappointment and frustration. The book recognises failings in our relationship with Earth and interrogates our commitment to change. Many artists have contributed images and text, in the hope that this will inspire creative solutions to some of the issues around our use of Earth’s resources.

Artists represented in the exhibition + book (alphabetical order):

Alison Cooke / Heidi Flaxman / James Hankey / Jack Hirons / Josie Purcell / Dan Pyne / Oliver Raymond-Barker / Henrietta Simson / Alan Smith / Chloe Uden / Heather Wilson / Louise K. Wilson

The book can be bought here:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/of-earth-for-earth/kathryn-moore/dana-finch/9781527276628