Soil Works

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, soil is a “biologically
active, phorus medium, that has developed in the uppermost
layer of Earth’s crust”. Yet what is soil? In 'Soil Works', Debbie Ding
unearths and isolates units of the composite excavated from
concealed areas under expressways, overhead bridges, road
triangles, carparks – public spaces which are usually overlooked
as one travels through Singapore – and proposes, in her words,
“a series of artistic investigations into soil in Singapore and its
visibility and invisibility”.

The installation is presented in five parts: “Red Landscape”, “Home
without a Shelter”, “Topsoil”, “Sand Weight” and “Soil Column”. Each
‘station’ beckons the visitor to observe soil in a range of alternative
investigative approaches.

Through 'Soil Works', Ding considers the strategies of researching
the physicality of soil in Singapore by highlighting both its
perceptible and less perceivable qualities. In doing so, she
destabilises the concept of the scientific laboratory by staging her
own multi-station ‘testing’ gallery.