compost composition by pedi Matthies

what does composting as an art form look like? how can the process of decomposition be considered in an aesthetic form? can formal concerns be applied to organic processes? These are just a couple of questions to start out with. For the last 10 years plant material of various types have been brought together by me, to rot and change form. Branches, tea-bags, dead plant material, bacteria, fungi and the like come together to make compost. The process from death and uselessness to nourishment and potential of organic matter is the object of study.

many different artists are at work on this evolving sculpture

Dead plant material is the canvas so to say. The starting point of our endeavor to make "brown gold" as gardeners affectionately refer to. Tea bags and kitchen scraps complete the initial composition.

The mice, they live inside the compost heap and sort of mix everything by building their tunnels and nests.

The microbes are probably the most active and do the biggest job of deconstructing.

The rain and temperature act on the compost. The microbes need water of course and at different temperatures they feel better or worse and thus work at different rates.

All protagonists work over time, whereby i am not sure about the concept of time yet....

Are we all working in the same direction?

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