Is There Such Thing as Common Ground?

Digging to find soil that belongs to everyone.

Who owns the earth? Where is the lithium from my smartphone’s ion battery being mined? How many kilometers of underground cables are buried in this country? Until what depth do you own the land as a landowner? These and many more questions on soil and resources are literally buried in the earth; I have googled them over the past 10 years. The questions went through underground cables, through submarine cables, crossing continents, and might still be stored somewhere underground. The underground is crucial for modern life. It’s what made the industrial revolution possible, with the construction of tunnels and the increased demand for mining. By now the underground is either hollowed out or crammed, making all that we do on daily basis possible. But what do we actually know about it?

One thing I found out though one of the many online searches: as a landowner in The Netherlands you own the first 7 meters of soil. During the ‘Is There Such Thing as Common Ground?’ performance we are trying to escape this restriction, by digging deeper than 7 metres to find and share the soil that belongs to all of us.

Commissioned by Stichting SIGN
Earth drilling: Sialtech

Many thanks to Reinout and Ilona for inviting us to their land

Commissioned by Stichting SIGN
Earth drilling: Sialtech

Many thanks to Reinout and Ilona for inviting us to their land