An exhibition of art, new media, DIY design, music, and participatory projects, celebrating the connections between humans and worms. As beneficial waste processors, fertilizer producers and greenhouse gas reducers, worm colonies are invited into my home, workplace, art studio and this gallery as collaborators and as models for living more sensitively with ecosystems.
Selected creative works of my students and worm-appreciating colleagues were represented in the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition could participate in the “worm selfie station”, rock in a chair that powers a hydroponic worm ecosystem, watch worm webcam movies, and take inspiration from a variety of experimental worm bin designs and vermicultural artifacts. Creative participation was encouraged and all are invited to create their own work and submit it to the Vermi-Prize contest; an award for the best new culture created for, or about, composting worms.
Makers Club Members represented in the exhibition: Ryan Agnew, Joachim Bean, Levi Bedall, Katherine Beigel, Gretchen Cochran, Elizabeth Fischer, Matt Herrmann, Xinge Huang, Kay Bea Jones, Daniel Meredith, Henry Peller, Evan Rimoldi, Ken Rinaldo, Andrea Ross, Ethan Schaefer, Lindsay Scypte, Ann Silverman, Casey Slive, Krzysztof Topolski, Patrick Turner, Patrick Vokaty, and Zachary Weinberg. For info about the work of these artists and how to join us at, visit: wormculture.org
Exhibition Statement
Amy M. Youngs
The climate is catastrophic – what can one individual do?
Look to the worm.
The worm collaborates with other micro and macro organisms to turn what is rotting into rich soil. The worm joins forces with a colony that works in complex, interdependent ways with thousands of other organisms to create an ecosystem.
I live and work with domesticated technological and biological beings that sustain me aesthetically, gastronomically, intellectually and emotionally. Emitting waste, I seek co-habitation with creatures that make use of it. I like to be reminded that my human existence depends on interdependence. As an artist, I construct systems and situations for animals, electronics and humans to interact. Perhaps our relationships work with less friction when greased with the right interface?
Composting worms can play a powerful role in helping us reduce our greenhouse gas output, but their power to repulse us is a barrier. There is a lot of cultural work to do if we are to develop symbiotic relationships with them. The VermiCulture Makers Club is a way to invite other humans (you) to participate in this interesting challenge of changing our cultural minds around worms. Can we develop an appreciation of them by observing them on webcams as they do their incredible waste-disposal work, or by enjoying the plants that are living on nutrients created by worms? Can worms enter the space of our homes and develop collaborative relationships with us more easily when their habitats are embedded in hydroponic plant towers, or hidden inside teddy bears, furniture, kitchen cookware or paper shredders? What would you try instead? I hope you will join me in prototyping a future that appreciates our shared world with other living things. We start with the worm, and we work together to create new culture and new ecosystems.
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