Another Green Monday: Dig It!
Have you had a chance to “Dig It!” at the Mac? Well, I have and I wrote a little review.
At first I thought this 4,000 square foot exhibit was going to be boring since it wasn’t about a topic I was familiar with and the idea of looking at dirt seemed, well, like something I couldn’t dig.
Photo by Charley Gurche, courtesy of the MAC.
However, I was amazed at the variety of texture sand colors in the soil and the sheer audacity of the exhibit itself.
It takes a big-picture view of the topic by illustrating soils at the center of both human-made and natural ecosystems such as farms,cities, forests, grasslands, savannahs, wetlands, and tundra. The exhibit notes there are more living creatures in a shovel full of rich soil than human beings on the planet. Compared to traditional educational treatments of the topic, this was fun.
Inside, I found a miniature house encased in Plexiglas. The two-story house had an emerald lawn and a dug-up garden, but most importantly,it sits atop layers and layers (and layers) of soil, which are exposed in a kind of cutaway. It sort of reminded me of the opening scene of Blue Velvet where the camera shows a nice suburban house with a picket fence and the camera literally digs into the soil, exposing what lies beneath.
From there, I checked out the monoliths. These are tall wooden display cases that show a vertical cutaway of each state’s soil layers. It’s called All-American Soils. Each was placed upright behind a sheet of glass. Visitors could find their “home earth” here and it was truly awe-inspiring to see the display of 54 soil samples in these monoliths representing each state, plus the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
Right near home, the Palouse is the most astounding. In prehistoric time, volcanic lava flows, followed by Ice Age flooding, carved and shaped the Palouse and built up layers of soil rich in ash and glacial material. This made it perfec tfor growing wheat and it’s the most fertile soil that exists. And that giant Palouse Earthworm I’ve spent so much time hunting for? The earthworm truly is king of the soil kingdom. They actually create it. They can actually digest rocks and their worm ‘castings’ (excrement) help compost. This exhibit reiterated how much earthworms rock. But I digress.
In the “At Home inthe World of Soils” gallery, visitors explored the connections between soil and culture. Nearby, a video installation features soils as the “secret ingredients” in thousands of everyday items including medicine, food, fiber, paint, pottery and more .For instance, sand is used in women’s cosmetics “to make the sparkle.”
“The Big Picture” area showcased the global view, depicting soils at the center of Earth’s water, nutrient, life, and carbon cycles. A world map and computer interactive stations highlight global connections to soils. Nearby, the “Get Soil Savvy!” display explores the importance of soils in land management and conservation.
Only three percent of the earth’s surface can grow the food, fiber and lumber needed to feed, clothe and shelter earth’s population of 7 billion - and growing. Most of that soil is in North America, and some of the most fertile soils exist in eastern Washington’s Palouse.
Signs explain how ordinary items are just a few steps removed from soil. One says antibiotic medicines are made from micro organisms in soil,showing how people interact with soil every day without realizing it. “A teaspoon of good farm soil contains up to 1 billion bacteria in more than 4,000 species,” a display read.
There are concerns with soil health. For example, the organic matter in soil, the foundation of soil health, is declining, but it can increase using careful tillage techniques.
Soils are every bit as fundamental to life on Earth as air and water, and they are an inspiring, fascinating, and largely unseen world, full of chemistry. It sustains life on earth. The big takeaway message for me: We can feed the world and sustain the environment if we keep the soil healthy. I will never really look at soil the same way again. I encourage you to do the same.
For more information, go HERE. This exhibit runs through September 22nd.
