Touch-Ground Marlot Meyer

Touch-Ground
Marlot Meyer

This photobook was created during the
exhibition Touch-Ground at Heden Art Gallery,
Den Haag which ran from 17 September - 20
November 2021.

Many thanks to Heden for giving me the
opportunity to play out my wildest fantasies,
and allowing their white cube gallery to very
literally come alive.

I know that someone who has
knowledge about all these things would
have known exactly what was going
on from the beginning, and when they
read this they might find my approach
extremely naive. And to many people
it may seem a bit naive to think I could
try and fuck with the natural order of
things - place it in a little bubble and
call it ‘nature’.
I didn’t think it was possible either,
and I really didn’t want to play ‘God’.
This was not an experience which
had questions to answer, or a goal
to achieve, but simply a curiousity to
watch it all play out over time.

This book’s intention is not meant
to make definitive statements about
humans, nature or technology, or be
a guide on how to grow grass, but
rather to share my experience being
intimately part of this process.
Even though I wanted to create this
work for other people to experience a
new constellation of these elements,
I feel like I was the one who learnt
the most, and for that I will be forever
grateful for.

07 SEPTEMBER 21
Day 01

07 SEPTEMBER 21

13 SEPTEMBER 21

For the first time, I
started feeling like
I was not alone in
the space anymore.
Literally out of
nothing, came life.
13 September 2021

14 SEPTEMBER21
I was not alone in the space anymore
13 September 2021

That day my lover’s
father had told me:
“grass requires many
things: water, fertilizer,
enough light and most
importantly.. patience.”

15 SEPTEMBER 21

15 September 2021

16 SEPTEMBER 21
Day 08

15 September 2021

24 SEPTEMBER 21

25 SEPTEMBER 21

Life: both biological
and technological. I
guess I never really
thought about the
fact that this space is
probably a really nice
home for other living
things, too.

25 SEPTEMBER 21
Day 17

20 September 2021

27 SEPTEMBER 21
Visitors of many species..

29 SEPTEMBER 21
Someone visiting
told me that the
Amsterdam Arena
couldn’t grow their
grass either.
The grass had grow
lights, enough water
and nutrient-rich soil.
So they hired many
professionals to do
research as to why
this was happening.
Amsterdam Arena has
a roof, built to protect
the humans and
the grass from the
weather.
But it turns out that
grass needs wind to
grow.
So they pointed huge
wind turbines at the
field, and:
“Now we have the
best grass in the
Netherlands!”

5 October 2021
Slime mold, rust mold, root mold, powdery mildew, grey
mold, sludge mold, Pink mold, organge mold, yellow
mold , blackest black and fluffy cute mold.

29 SEPTEMBER 21
But even with wind, all
this walking with heavy
footsteps and little
consideration has left
empty barren patches
that seem to have
surrendered to gravity
and weight of human
feet...

“Perhaps what it needs is fertilizer
for an extra power-boost!! And some
alone-time to recover!”

05 OCTOBER 21
Boy.. was I wrong..
I realised from the
moment I entered. There
was a sour, rotten smell
in the air that stuck to
your cloths and entered
your body.

Slime mold, rust mold,
root mold, powdery
mildew, grey mold,
sludge mold, Pink
mold, organge mold,
yellow mold, Anish
Kapoor blackest black
and fluffy cute mold.
(Thanks Google
for assisting in the
identification process)

23 OCTOBER ‘21

I looked in horror at the
monster I had created. For
the first time ever, I was
aggressively confronted
with my own work.
It really is alive, and it
is doing exactly what it
wants to do.
But there was a kind of
beauty in that that can’t be
tucked away or presented
in any way except the way
it is.
It just is.

23 OCTOBER ‘21
But this is what I wanted. A living
organism. Something with its own
agency.
I had created the conditions for life
to exist, but which life that turned out
to be was not in my power to decide.
My idea of beautiful clean green
fresh grass was clearly not a
living organism, nor a reflection of
anything natural.
Grass was literally a colonial status
symbol to show off that you had
extra land that you didn’t need for
a house or farms. A totally useless,
homogenous symbol of excess.

At the same time, I felt bad for the
grass that was being consumed by
the molds. I had put the seeds there,
and now they were suffering and it
was my fault.
5 October 2021
My human desire to control and
interfere was itching me inside. But
who am I to think that grass has
more right to live than mold?
Because it was prettier? Because
my idea of nature was pretty and
green?
Because mold reminded me of decay
and death and I have grown up so
far away from that?

08 OCTOBER 21
It really did confront me. I loved that it did but
hated it too. I was torn inside.
But, is it not natural for humans to attempt to
alter their environment? To make it suite our
needs and wants and desires?
Every other animal and plant has adapted to
a specific environment. The way a camel can
withstand drought, and a polar bear freezing
temperatures would leave little man dead within
no time. But if you swap the camel and the polar
bear they wouldn’t last half that time.
There is no ideal environment for a human.
We will make it instead.

08 OCTOBER 21

It looked like a giant
dog had peed where
it wasn’t supposed to.
I felt like a monster
myself, ashamed of my
humanness.
All I dreamt of was
seeds and mushrooms
and entire universes
of plants.

12 OCTOBER 2021
Day 34

13 OCTOBER 21

“Let go of the control”
“They have the right to be here”

16 OCTOBER 21
They seem calmer than the ones
in your kitchen fruit bowl. They
don’t really fly around, they just
sit, undisturbed by my presence.
Maybe they grew up without
being taught that human is a
threat.
Like the dodo’s. They grew up
without predators on the island
of Mauritius - so when they first
encountered humans they were
entirely fearless, walking right
up to them, only to meet their
fate.
This story always made me cry.

“These animals on our coming up to them
stared at us and remained quiet where they
stand, not knowing whether they had wings
to fly away or legs to run off, and suffering
us to approach them as close as we pleased.
We drove them together into one place in such
a manner that we could catch them with our
hands, and when we held one of them by its
leg, and that upon this it made a great noise,
the others all on a sudden came running as
fast as they could to its assistance, and by
which they were caught and made prisoners
also.”
- Report by shipwrecked mariner Volkert Evertsz
of the Dutch ship Arnhem, 1662

20 OCTOBER 21
On a more positive note: life will always
perservere. Everything at its core has the
deepest desire to live, to grow, no matter
what the circumstances.
Finding little blades of green wherever I had
been was a wonderful reaffirmation of this.

20 OCTOBER 21
In an upside bucket in
complete darkness.
Inside a jug of water
I had used to scoop
seeds with.

The seeds stuck to my
shoes landing in my
flooded balcony of fake
grass.
Entirely submerged
in water.

23 OCTOBER ‘21

16 October 2021

23 OCTOBER 21
I had to trust the seeds,
and their desire to live
and grow. And hope that
it was stonger than that
desire of the mold.

24 OCTOBER 21

The seeds were not the only thing
growing..
In the back corner a mound was rising
out of the floor. It’s patterns were
beautiful, and it seemed to be coexisitng
with the grass.
This big mamma really claimed her
space so there was no way I could
consider removing this... creature.

25 OCTOBER 21
And although the
weather inside remained
constant, outside it
was Autumn, and the
visitors who strolled
through the fallen leaves
on their way brought
with them the spores of
mushrooms.

25 OCTOBER 21

But life was teeming. All life.
The only thing different
from the first time was
that I had established that
humans, however careful
their intentions, were far too
destructive to allow for new
life.
Their footsteps crushed
seedlings and carried
bacteria through the entire
space.

01 NOVEMBER ‘21
Day 54

23 OCTOBER ‘21

Let’s be honest, it looks great.
But still.. there is a feeling looming over,
under, inbetween this beautiful green that
this is too good to be true..
I had to admit that... the longer you looked
the more you noticed the little details which
told you it was much more than just grass.

02 NOVEMBER 21
Watching the behaviour of visitors
made me think that somehow we
had lost our ability to be fascinated,
to wonder, to zoom into tiny little
creatures and slow down and just
listen, just be there. Smell, listen,
wait - don’t question.
There was a kind of impatience to
move through the space quickly,
to see whats around the corner.
Equally there was a denial to
believe something real, too. When
I told them that “Yes this is real
grass”, and “Yes, it grew here. All of
it. From seeds..” I was always met
with faces of disbelief.

23 OCTOBER ‘21

They kind of only saw the bigger picture, not the
little things in between. The way a child looks at
the world is not defined by names, definitions or
groups like an adult’s.
Instead of feeling the wet ground, smelling
damp, tasting the long green blades, listening to
the click, ,, clack, click, of the electronics, the
drip,drip,drip of the water coming out a tube or
the pssssssshhhh of latex lungs inflating,
They were too busy trying to understand the
purpose of such a thing inside such a clean
white gallery.

03 NOVEMBER 21

I became quite protective. I had
even made a pathway through
the grass which would allow it
to grow unharmed, and prevent
humans from walking through
the whole space.
I usually find it vital that
the experience of my work
is not predetermined, that
each individual is allowed to
wander and explore the things
that intrigue them most. But
this time I knew that if I did,
there would be no space
left to grow. It was a new
relationship.

03 NOVEMBER 21
On a day when I was
not there, there had
been a visitor who
wanted to walk off the
path, to step into the
wild.
But a week later, their
footprints are as clear
as road signs, marked
with the bacteria they
carried.

21 NOVEMBER ‘21
I was baffeled by their
inconsideration, their
desire to take the easiest,
fastest route, even at the
expense of other living
things.
Suddenly I understood
why in the park or forrest
or dunes there are signs
which tell you where to
walk. Something that had
always infuriated me..
“YOU CANT PUT RULES
IN NATURE!!”
But now I understand. We
are so used to following
rules, signs, symbols,
and imaginary structures
that if there is an absence
of this, we do not know
that we have to be
considerate.
I don’t know if the
signs and rules, or the
inconsideration and
destruction came first.
But there is no undoing
it. So no, I don’t blame us.
We don’t know any better.
We live in a world made
for us.

04 NOVEMBER 21
When we see a mushroom popping
out of the ground, we are technically
only seeings the ‘flower’ of the
plant. The rest of the plant is
underground. They digest dead plant
matter, transforming this into new
energy. But inside Heden, there is
no underground. I could see all the
connections being made under the
grass blades.

It looks like the view from the airplane...

05 NOVEMBER ‘21
Day 58

23 OCTOBER ‘21

These ‘fruiting bodies’
were spreading their
spores through the
space so yes I am
worried, but at the
same time I can’t touch
it. I can only hopefully
assist the growth
towards a harmonious
system.
I have refused to
play any other role
anymore except as
plant waterer and
seed sower.
Like the mother of a
child who they just
dropped off at their
first party - I had done
all I could and now
I hope that that was
enough.
I sit and worry and
anxiously check up on
them when I can. Now
when I see something
I could fix - I know I
am powerless to do so
anymore.
Although you may think
that this is my desire to
control, I am doubtful.
I have and always will
want to nurture and
protect living things. It
feels like my actions
come from a loving,
maternal mamma
lion energy that just
wants the best for this
organissm?

05 NOVEMBER 21
When I saw this ladybug, I somehow
felt this was the sign that everything
was ok, that the organism is in
balance.
I don’t know why the idea of a
ladybug meant something good but I
accepted it and from that point on I
decided to just let it happen what will
happen.

05 NOVEMBER 21

05 NOVEMBER 21

This was meant to be an
artwork in a gallery. An
experience for humans.
But it has become so much
more.
The intention of the artwork,
afterall, is to create, grow,
and experience this new
organism, so shouldn’t
it also be respected and
accepted that this organism
needs some space?

07 NOVEMBER 21
It requires respect and patience.
It requires of us to not have
expectations, to not demand a flashy,
over-stimulating experience which
provides us with entertainment.
It requires us to drop the heirarchy
and s l o w d o w n .

10 NOVEMBER 21
Slightly terrifying, yes?

If you have ever sat
down in the ‘wild’ part of
the dunes you will see
exactly the same thing..

14 NOVEMBER 21
But something was up. Or
rather, let me say down. In
some sections it looked like
the grass was dying again!
So close to the end! What
can I do!?!

Earlier that day I was
reading about fungus and
how they feed on dead/dying
plant matter.
And then I realised
something..

14 NOVEMBER 21
The mold, the fungus, who
had sort of been my enemy
along this journey - was only
doing what it does best.
It never killed anything -
since they don’t feed on
healthy plants.
They were only helping by
degrading the dying ones. It
had never been my enemy.
Then.. who was?

14 NOVEMBER 21
Well. I could say humans,
and when they step on the
grass, essentially they kill
that patch because there is
no soil to cushion the weight
of the step.
But the real enemy, even in
the footsteps.. was ..
Gravity.

Gravity was what flattened
the grass when it grew too
long, and when it fell, it didn’t
get light, and so began to
die. And so became food for
the fungus.

14 NOVEMBER 21
I was so relieved. I understood
it again. It all made sense and
there was no “enemy” at all.
Well only one thing left to do.

17 NOVEMBER 21
Time for a haircut!!!

And sure enough.. the grass kinda popped up
again as soon as the weight of its growth was
not too heavy for its roots

17 NOVEMBER ‘21
Day 65

23 OCTOBER ‘21

23 OCTOBER ‘21

It is hard to communicate
through these images
how this little pocket of
non-human life simply
existed in between the
white walls of an art
gallery.
The process of birth,
creation and growth of
this life took two months.
The deconstruction of it
took two days.

And, although we are
nearing the end of this
particular journey, in this
specific space, and I get
sad thinking that all this
life, all this energy spent
will soon be gone, I am
reminded of Newtons
Law of Conservation of
Energy:
“Energy cannot be
created or destroyed,
only transformed or
transferred.”
If you stop to think about
that, really think about it,
it is the most empowering
yet humbling fact of our
existence.
We are in constant
change, transforming one
energy into another, and
eventually the ability to do
that runs out, and your
life as ‘you’, ends. We
will become food for the
fungus.
We never pop into
existence and pop out
of it. Everything is so
intimately entangled with
everything else, and there
is no start or end, only a
constant transformation.
Everything will continue
it’s life cycle and we are
all part of the same one.
I hope that through this
experience, through this
story, perhaps it might
remind you of this, too.

21 NOVEMBER’21
My sadness and guilt
was soon replaced by an
extraordinary sensation
of wonder, honour, and
gratitude when I began to
see what lay underneath it
all ..

21 NOVEMBER’21

Even something like an
earthworm, one of natures
most vital insects, somehow -
without even having soil - had
ended up here.

21 NOVEMBER’21

I felt honored that I was
able to be part of this
beautiful creation process,
and that I can share this
process with you.

21 NOVEMBER’21
Just as the roots
remembered their floor,
taking the shape of tiles
and letters carved into
metal, the water and
minerals left behind
remembered the roots,
making imaginary
pathways like the veins
in a body or the river
network carved into the
landscape.

23 OCTOBER ‘21

I am so grateful that I
had the opportunity to
witness these wonders
first hand and that they
so graciously exposed
themselves to me.

22 NOVEMB VEMBER ER ‘21
Day 70

22 NOVEMBER’21
Even though I really did
understand the circle of
life, it was still my baby
in one way or another.
It had so much of my
energy.
I had to keep some parts
- like the part with the
earthworm on it.
This little patch still lives
on in front of my house.

Maybe I just wanted to
know if my inside grass
would survive out there -
“in the wild”
Maybe I just wasn’t ready
to say goodbye to it all..
I guess thats where
humans really take the
first prize - in being
sentimental.

22 NOVEMBER’21
But eventually everything
will break-down,
decompose and decay.

But that doesn’t mean it’s
not worth caring about..

Awe. Wonder. Fascination...
For the things you create and for
the things that cross your path, be
gentle and take care, everything
is so inexcripably connected and
entangled with everything else.

23 OCTOBER ‘21

Not the End..

Marlot Meyer is an interactive
media artist, who works closely
with both physical and digital media,
the body, and the environment. She
explores the boundaries and liminal
space between these, and invites
others to ro explore and question
by experiencing her work.

For any questions, comments or thoughts:
marlotmeyercontact@gmail.com
marlotmeyer.com

23 OCTOBER ‘21