Ruth Watson: Geophagy

Geophagy, the practice of consuming dirt and clay, can be read as a metaphor for our overpopulation, consumption, and destruction of the Earth. Used by some indigenous peoples in cooking to absorb toxins from indigestible plants, geophagy can also be read as a more positive reference to our relationship to the Earth, and to indigenous knowledge; a conscious and purposeful consumption.

Auckland-based, Canterbury-born Ruth Watson’s multifaceted exhibition is acutely about the present moment, speaking to global politics and environmental issues. Through a sprawling installation, video, audio and printed works, Watson takes a critical look at the world today and seems to suggest that it’s not clear what we should do, collectively or individually. With so many issues and paths of action vying for our attention, the immeasurable size of the problems we face, and the systemic causes out of our control, taking action can feel overwhelming. Describing the world as being in a state of “dystopian present”, Watson reflects on the complexity of our relationship to the environment, and the incongruity of living in a place that we are destroying, without any clear means to unify and prevent that destruction.

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Ko Geophagy, he tikanga mō te kai i te paru me te uku, he kupu whakarite ēnei mō te apiapi, te

mahi whakapau rawa me te whakamōtī i a Papatūānuku. I ētahi iwi taketake o te ao ka mahi tunu kai e tikanga tēnei hei whakanoa i ngā tāoke mai I ngā otaota, ā, ko Geophagy he tikanga whai pānga ki a Papatūānuku, ki te mātauranga iwi taketake me te āta kai me te āta whakapau otaota. 

Kei Tamaki-makau-rau a Ruth Watson, engari i whānau mai ia ki Waitaha; he matarau

te whakaaturanga nei mō te wā onāianei, me ngā take tōrangapū o te ao me te taiao.

Nā te whakahorahora o te whakaaturanga, mā ngā ataata, ngā oro me ngā mahi tā, ka arohaehae a Watson i te ao me te taupatupatu me aha tātou, he mahi iwi tokomaha, he mahi tangata takitahi rānei. He maha ngā take me ngā tono kei mua i te aroaro, he take nui me te whakararuraru i a tātou, ka haukerekere hoki. He ao kore mana, whakamataku tāngata hoki, ka whakaarohia a Watson mō te ao nei me te pānga o te tāngata ki te taiao, ngā mahi kīkino a te tangata hoki ki tōna ao, kāore he whakaaro kotahi hei arai i taua whakamōtītanga.