“Orange Crush” recall; 2024
A performative installation
In the depths of our senses
my bond with soil unfolds,
I feel our connection
Witness the stain of oppression
the scars of years where we’ve ruled
some are nature’s catastrophes
Some we weave
Yes, We have been weaponised it,
weaponised this soil for years,
for the sake of wars.
A shiver run through me
though nature will carry the scars
the scar will remain
perhaps, another hundred years.
a ritual for countering the presence of white phosphorus used during genocide that tells the story and history of soil abuse, and shows the process of re-assembling and re-generating soil.
I apologies, with my novice words I am re-calling “Orange Crush”: a song by R.E.M written during Vietnam war. It alludes to the horror of Agent Orange, which was used by the US military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War.
In this work, I did rituals with kitchen ingredients as compost like sugar, lime, and charcoal by mixing it in the soil.These ingredients have small capacity that can slowly neutralize toxic contaminants in the soil, such as white phosphorus. It was a ceremony for being a companion in the healing process of the soil and regenerating its fertility. This process is a playful negotiation with the soil and space.
ON ALL EIGHT, 2024
Paradise, West Den Haag, Netherlands