Autolysis
Installation and Performances
June 1-15, 2022
Goethe-Institut Boston
We take our project’s title,
Autolysis (self-splitting), from the name for the first stage of decomposition when a body is buried, and from the Greek roots of that word.
Autolysis is a poetic and visceral exploration of issues around climate change, plant species adaptation/extinction, and personal mortality through a focus on/engagement with soil/dirt.
Dirt/earth is the very base of our daily existence and also where we return to when we cease to exist. It nurtures us, and then we disappear into it.
In the Covid-era, when we have become profoundly oriented towards the digital, and where cleanliness has felt like a life or death imperative,
Autolysis offers an immersive, tactile and olfactory experience of re-connection with the earth and to dirt.
Autolysis also opens conversations about personal relationships with the earth in a way that emphasizes the actual material of the earth rather than earth with a capital “E”, and creates space for gentle contemplation of end of life/end of species issues.
Dirty Library Hotline
Ongoing (June 2022)
Bring or send us your dirt to 170 Beacon Street Boston MA 02116. Call us at 617-861-8898 and tell us about it on the telephone.
Dirty Walk
Saturday, June 4, 1-3 PM (rain date: June 12)
Join Autolysis artists Heather Kapplow and Walker Tufts in a guided walking experience.We’ll engage our senses and imagination, paying close attention to the Goethe-Institute’s neighborhood–its flora, its history, its soil–and gather materials that can be used to contribute to the evolving aspects of
Autolysis.
Dirty Hang: Open Studio Drop in Hours
Tuesday, June 7 and Friday, June 10, 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Autolysis artists Heather Kapplow and Walker Tufts will be onsite working and hanging out, and you are welcome to come by and visit to investigate the work and ask questions. This is a casual time to get to know us and the work, informally. BYOB, and if you’re able, also bring a ziploc baggie or jar of some soil from somewhere that’s important to you that you can share with us. If you are unable to make our open studio drop in hours, get in touch–we can also be available by appointment.
Dirty Movie: Lessons of Darkness
Wednesday June 8, 6:30 PM
Director: Werner Herzog, documentary, 55 min., 1992
Shortly before the end of the Second Gulf War, Iraqi troops set fire to the oil fields and terminals as they withdrew from Kuwait. Herzog and his cameraman attempted to capture the unfathomable, the apocalypse, on film.
Finissage with Artist Talk and Dirty Karaoke
Wednesday, June 15, 6:00 - 9:30 PM
Join us for a closing party for Autolysis! We’ll begin with an artists talk, where Heather Kapplow and Walker Tufts will host a free ranging conversation about their work and how Autolysis fits into it, perhaps with special guests. Then we’ll all enjoy the soil one more time, and do a little dirty karaoke! Bring your favorite song about dirt, death or climate change and we’ll help each other keep our spirits up even though we know the end of the habitable world is nigh. Please bring a ziploc baggie or jar of some soil from somewhere that’s important to you that you can share with us for our ongoing collection.
