Becoming geological

Becoming geological is a speculative quest into a life of earthy sediments of collaboration and care. In this film, I propose and embody the geological human—a speculative being that is both biological and geological and explores the ways it is connected to the Earth.

We are currently living in the Anthropocene - a proposed epoch that demonstrates the major influence humankind had on geological change. If this era is inextricably connected to humanity, then what are the ways in which human is similar to the Earth?

The geological human studies the Earth and its transformations in this time of ecological crisis, to search for the potential to evolve human. They do fieldwork to collect Rocks and their stories, which they share in a video installation.

In the film, the geological human starts a conversation with Chalk, in search to learn from the Earth how to be a geological being. In the ENCI quarry, they discover a relationship between the limestone walls, the presence of Chalk in their bouldering practice, and the chalky dimensions of their bones.

While scratching the minerals onto the rocks they climb, they received minerals back. Accumulating underneath their fingernails, in their hands, hair, and clothes. Blending these minerals together, they feel their bond strengthen— making and unmaking their interaction in a symbiotic dance through Chalk.

They carry around a holder, inspired by Ursula K Le Guin’s carrier bag. The carrier bag narrative recognizes the essential role of gathering and containing in human history and culture. I explore its potential for a future of geological life, emphasising the significance of gathering, preserving, and sharing.

This recipient holds the practice of becoming geological, it unfolds into a mediator of the stories of the Earth and our interactions. Its wood and cotton reflect the terrain they explore, an in-between space, where soft and solid, body and body, Rock and human meet.