With Sentient Soil, Vera Kox invites us to question our understanding of the relationships between humans, nature and matter on the backdrop of the sweeping changes that are affecting our planet. Revolving around three major series of works, this solo exhibition immerses viewers in a part-natural, part-artificial landscape between Pleistocene and post-Anthropocene. The Luxembourgish-German artist uses the intrinsic properties of materials to create alternative scenarios in which industrial and organic elements merge and collide. Kox’s works are hybrid objects that could be described as fossils of our materialistic present. By conjoining seemingly disparate elements, they form an autonomous environment with its own logic that defies common categories and concepts. On the one hand, the artist presents fragmentary imprints of plants that are reminiscent of remains of long-lost species, thus pointing to the rampant loss of biological diversity. On the other hand, these relics combine with a ‘habitat’ of living moss, which in turn stands for the long cycles of nature that unfold independently of us humans. (Moss, which developed around 450 million years ago, is one of the first life forms to have appeared on our planet.) Kox’s video installations are the result of her research in places as diverse as the volcanic springs of Dallol in Ethiopia or the Arctic expanses of Spitsbergen, where the effects of climate change are particularly tangible. At the North Pole, for instance, average temperatures have risen by a worrying four degrees Celsius over the past 50 years, leading to extensive thawing of the permafrost soils. These geographical contrasts are also reflected in the diverse, sometimes paradoxical materialities that punctuate the exhibition, as in the works from the Viscera series, which appear to melt or drift like fragments of pack ice. The ]Instar[ series, on the other hand, with its bursting glazes, is evocativeof parched desert landscapes, such as those found at one of the lowest points on earth in Ethiopia. A central element in Kox’s work are steel girders, which embody the unstoppable progress of industrial production. At the same time, these standardised components are representative of her hometown Esch, a former steel city, which has been undergoing fundamental structural change in the wake of globalisation. In the exhibition, the angular beams enter into a dialogue with organic objects made of clay – a material commonly associated with arts and crafts and whose unfathomably long formation process contrasts with the fast-paced manufacturing methods of industry.

In Kox’s latest material associations, water, the basis of all life, plays the role of a connecting element. It is only in combination with water that clay, a solid and crumbly material when dry, becomes a flexible mass that can be shaped like skin or dough. The artist embraces these shifting properties to emphasise the transformative processes inherent in her own works, either through material deformations or references to geological processes. This play with the materiality of her objects is key to the sensual experience of the exhibition, blurring the boundaries between the natural and the artificial: hard surfaces appear soft, gooey matter has dried up, fluids have solidified.

With the title of her exhibition, Sentient Soil, the artist invites us to conceive of the Earth as a coherent, living organism capable of experiencing feelings and sensations. On the scale of the planet, a wafer-thin layer of fertile soil harbours an incredibly complex organic diversity in constant interaction. It is this layer that lies at the heart of Kox’s works, where it gives rise to diverse forms and textures. A mixture of sand, clay, silt, water and air, it has provided the breeding ground for human life for thousands of years, but agriculture, urban development and increasing waste generation are causing this substrate to disappear forever. Seen in this light, Kox’s artistic practice is akin to an archaeology of the future: bringing to light the buried remains of the consumer age, it urges us to reflect on the consequences of our actions.

The two parts of the presentation are conceptually connected by down above, a semi-circle of ceramic discs that interacts with the other works to reveal the interconnectedness and porosity of all forms of life. In a simultaneously poetic and disturbing way, the exhibition Sentient Soil shows that the planet we live on is constantly changing, but also that our actions are inextricably linked to these processes. In that respect, it is a call to radically rethink our understanding of this complex fabric.
Charles Wennig