In yesterday's post, we explored the transformative power of mushrooms, a natural inspiration elevated to Haute Couture in a film costume. Yet, the natural world offers many inspirations, even in its most unassuming elements.
Next year, London's Somerset House will unveil "Soil: The World at Our Feet" (23 January - 13 April 2025), an exhibition celebrating the profound connection between soil and life itself. Featuring over 50 works spanning historical artifacts, scientific specimens, and documentary evidence, the showcase explores the intricate role of soil not as mere dirt, but as a foundation of human civilization and a beacon of hope for planetary restoration.
While fashion won't take center stage (a missed opportunity, as some Alexander McQueen, Martin Margiela and Hussein Chalayan's designs would resonate here), the event will bridge art, science, and textiles. Textile highlights include pieces by Annalee Davis, a Barbados-based artist whose textile works look at post-plantation economies, weaving together history, ecology, and cultural renewal.
Annalee Davis' embroidered panels pay homage to British sewing traditions inherited by Barbadian women over centuries. By integrating time-honored embroidery with machine-made crocheted appliqués, Davis transforms these domestic artifacts, once confined to decorative roles in kitchens and living rooms, into potent protest placards. Her works critique the legacies of mono-crop farming and plantation economies, addressing today's climate emergency with bold statements like "Unlearn the plantation."
The exhibition will be divided into three thematic sections, "Life Below Ground," "Life Above Ground," and "Hope," exploring the geopolitical, economic, and social imprints that we leave on planet's surface.
Among the newly commissioned works is Vivien Sansour's deeply evocative piece, weaving stories of soil and human culture. Her work connects soil trade in the Caribbean, rehabilitation efforts in Palestine, and seed-saving initiatives in North America, combining field research with imaginative elements such as handwritten notes, plants, seeds, and soil samples that narrate soil's profound ties to humanity.
Collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, renowned for their immersive fusions of art and technology, will unveil "Poetics of Soil", in which also amanita muscaria mushrooms appear (something that will delight fungi enthusiasts - there's actually more for them including Jo Pearl 's "Unearthed - Mycelium" sculpture). Other commissions include Sam Williams, Something & Son, and Semantica (Jemma Foster and Camilla French) with Juan Cortés, exploring human impacts on soil and inspiring narratives of change and resilience. Besides, Somerset House Studios artist Maeve Brennan will present "With Horses", a film installation addressing the temporality of industrial landscapes and the enduring scars of plastic waste.
Fashion and textile designers seeking fresh inspiration should instead look no further than the mesmerizing photographs of bacteria by Dr. Tim Cockerill from the Institute of Photography at Falmouth University, and Dr. Elze Hesse from the University of Exeter's Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI). Cockerill, a macrophotography specialist and science communicator, collaborates with Hesse, an expert on species interactions and environmental challenges, to explore the interplay between bacteria and their surroundings.
Their work focuses on bacteria found in Cornish soils contaminated by toxic heavy metals from mining, as well as microbes from everyday garden compost. In previous studies they examined Paenibacillus, a gram-positive soil bacterium, often affected by the presence of other bacterial species, and its swarming behavior in response to social and environmental cues, such as interactions with Rhodococcus (first one on the left, top row, in the fifth image in this post). One finding involves Variovorax, a yellow soil bacterium, producing vibrant tendrils by exploiting iron scavenged by Paenibacillus (fifth one from the left, top row, in the fifth image in this post).
These studies not only uncover how microbial interactions impact environmental health, offering insights into reducing antibiotic resistance and detoxifying polluted areas, but also produce visually stunning macrophotographic images. The bacteria's irregular patterns, bold colors, and diverse forms evoke a kaleidoscopic beauty, transforming what might seem an unsettling subject into a mesmerizing visual narrative. These images could serve as a striking foundation for a bacteria-inspired fashion or textile collection, merging science and creativity in a celebration of nature's unseen wonders hiding in our soil.
Image credits for this post
All images courtesy Somerset House, London
Fly Agaric (detail) © Marshmallow Laser Feast
Unlearn the Plantation by Annalee Davis © Roberto Ruiz
Jute Mallow Processing by Palestine Heirloom Seed Library (Artist Vivien Sansour)
Unearthed - Mycelium by Jo Pearl © Elsa Pearl
A Diversity of Forms Image created by Dr Tim Cockerill, bacterial colonies isolated and cultured by Dr Elze Hesse
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