International Online Conference Below the Pavement, Not the Beach

On November 21, the opening of the cultural and educational project Grounding will be marked by the online conference Below the Pavement, Not the Beach. This event will bring together renowned international artists and philosophers, including the legendary Australian artist Oron Catts. 

The conference aims to expand our perception of soil and highlight the diversity of viewpoints on the matter around us. By referring to the Soviet scientific heritage, modern philosophical concepts, artistic practices, and the current state of science, the conference’s participants are to create an alternative map of the heterogeneous soils.

If there’s no beach below the pavement, then what is there? Ground, resources, or maybe living beings? Here, our perception is defined by our roles and goals. Where a cartographer will see empty land for marking, a farmer – a fertile resource, a scientist – a complex system that has been formed throughout the years, and a prospector – an oil well hidden in the depths and potential profit.

Earth’s matter possesses numerous dimensions that define our culture far deeper than meets the eye. Various perceptions of land are unequal and the ratio of the significance of its elements is constantly evolving. While oil and resources are strictly regulated, the soil as a unique system may not be legally protected and is considered only as territory for development. And what would the world look like if soil was more important than oil?

Conference participants: Oron Catts (artist, Australia), Karine Bonneval (artist, France), Ben Woodard (philosopher, Germany), Nikolay Smirnov (philosopher, Russia), Polina Khanova (philosopher, Russia), as well as the Terraforming project group (Andrey Tetekin, Luciano Brina, Yu Gong), Farming the Uncanny Valley (researchers, Germany), and Yulia Timofeeva (scientist, Russia).

If you’d like to participate in the upcoming event, you can sign up here and find the full conference program on this website.

Work language: English (with simultaneous translation into Russian on VK).

ITMO’s Art & Science Center