Soil Laboratory

Soil Laboratory is a concept and practice that brings together artists, designers, craftspeople, researchers, and local human and nonhuman actors to explore the relationship between humans and soil. In the laboratory, soil is understood as a material mediator that aids in unfolding the entangled relationship between humans and environment. The working methods rely on traditions of ceramics and a diversity of experimental practices.

Soil Laboratory is co-led by Maarit Mäkelä and Riikka Latva-Somppi and takes place in the context of EMPIRICA research group.  The laboratory has been displayed at the Research Pavilion in the context of the Venice Biennale 2019, at the Design Museum Helsinki 2020-2021 and at the Espoo Museum of Modern Art 2021-2022. The current phase of the project takes place in Lapland. The results of the ongoing project will be presented later in a local gallery and in Unfolding Sense of Water: care across boundaries (SoW) project’s exhibition, curated by Riikka Latva-Somppi, during spring 2026.  The SoW -project is funded by Academy of Finland and carried out by researchers in Natural Resources Institute, Finnish Environment Institute and Aalto University (2022-2026). 

The Soil Laboratory investigates human impact on land and explores ways to understand the soil’s complex history and networks. Field work, laboratory work, artistic co-creation, audience engagement, and discursive events form the core methodology. For example, artists, designers, and researchers gather and analyze soil samples from urban and rural areas, such as local forests and glass manufacturing sites. Then, the heavy metal contamination of these samples is evaluated. Subsequently, the samples are processed into slips and used in artistic production. In the Un/making Soil Communities at Nuutajärvi Glass Village-project, also a variety of phytoremediator plants were brought along to assess and showcase the abilities of other species in soil care. 

In the context of different iterations of the Soil Laboratory, the public has been invited to get in contact with local soil by collecting and sending soil samples alongside with notes and stories of the places they were gathered, and to do soil painting on local clay. Moreover, the Soil Laboratory has served as a platform for inter- and transdisciplinary, and interspecies collaboration. Varied projects include contributions from the Finnish Environment Institute, Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), and The Un/Making Studio, among others. Furthermore, artistic co-creation has allowed a deeper discussion and exchange about the topics and relating artistic choices.

Previous Soil Laboratory projects include:  

Exploring a dialog between human and land in Utsjoki 

Artistic Research Project on Local Espoo Soil, 2021 

Critically Endangered Species, 2020 

Un/making Soil Communities at Nuutajärvi Glass Village, 2020 

Soil Stories, 2020

Earth Laboratory in Venice, 2019