Somerset House

Accompany PJ Harvey and Seamus Murphy on a journey through the creative process behind PJ Harvey's new album, conceived by their travels around the globe.

The gnarled limbs of an ancient temperate rainforest are reflected in the network of mycelium below ground. Here two worlds meet, enabling the magic which drives so much of life on earth. They mirror each other visually, . while providing symbiotic support. This cycle, powered by photosynthesis, connects sunlight and water from above with a thriving metropolis of microlife below, drawing carbon from the atmosphere into the soil where it is stored.

The delicate structures of our soils have been damaged by the extractive practices of industrial farming in ways that affect our food, our health and that of the planet. Humans have the ability to heal our soils by practising regenerative techniques that produce nutrient-dense food, sequester carbon in the ground and nurture essential biodiversity. We have the power to be part of this story by choosing to support those who care for the soil whether producing food or fibre. Healthy soil, healthy people, healthy planet.

In today's world, soil is often treated as little more than a medium, to be moved around by bulldozers in the process of 'construction', or extracted of energy in the form of cash crops. Yet, for people still connected to land, to water, and to all human and non-human beings, soil is generosity itself. This is why generous people in Palestine are literally referred to as people of the soil, Ahl el Thara. This film charts a journey through the lives and terrains of people from around the world who share common attributes of warm-heartedness, generosity, and responsibility towards all living creatures.

Sam Williams's video collage coils its way through the gallery across seven monitors rooted to the ground. The work is an assemblage of research material: footage from university labs and the archives of the Natural History Museum; records of Darwin's experiments with earthworms at Down House; images of worms in art and popular culture; and myriad other annelid imagery. Two choreographies move through all of this: one is a text that moves linguistically through soil horizons. The other is movement material showing tasks enacted by a lone performer working with rope. The body casts, crawls and turns, flattening and coiling, continuously without acknowledgement. This is an experiment in embodying the worm as an image - in exploring softness, resilience strength and hidden labour.

Microphotography by Wim van Egmond.