LandRush

LandRush, a visual research project, analyzes the social + ecological impacts of global agriculture. By the end of 2010 prices were again on the rise.

LandRush is an artistic exploration of the social and environmental impact of large-scale agro-investments on rural economies and land rights, the boom of renewable fuels, the reallocation of land, and the future of agriculture around the world. In a series of documentary films, an interactive iPad App and spacial installations the project questions what constitutes modern agriculture. Today land

use and agricultural practices rival climate change as a global environmental threat. Agriculture is using 40 percent of all the land on earth, and more than 70 percent of all human consumed water, drying up riverbeds and draining aquifers. Fertilizer runoffs from industrial farming operations are destroying the ecosystems of rivers and coastal regions, while deforestation and the transformation of grassland into farmland cause soil erosion and a loss of biospheres and biodiversity. In 2008 violent protest broke out in more than two dozen countries. In the three years prior to that prices for wheat and corn had doubled, while the price of rice had increased threefold. The governments of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya were toppled; riots broke out in Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria. Contrary to food crises in previous decades, these increases were not due to short-term crop failures. Rather, they are a symptom of a daunting, long-term challenge:

Since the beginning of the century, in most years the world has consumed more cereal than it has produced—despite record crops. Food production cannot keep up with the growth of the world’s population and the changing dietary habits of the new middle classes in emerging countries. Furthermore food competes with energy production for acreage and water resources. With crop failures becoming more frequent due to climate change, groundwater levels dropping, soils depleting, and the increase in productivity of most crop plants sinking, the question is:
How can we feed the world without trashing it? Since 2011 we documented neocolonial land grabbing in Ethiopia, industrial mega-farms in Brazil, family farms thriving due to ethanol production in Iowa and the multiyear drought in California’s Central Valley. Currently we are researching organic farming and land use politics in Eastern Germany and water policies in the Colorado water shed.

04/03/2024

Missing Link
meets
Star Link
it was great to collaborate with Elon to light up the sky for the shooting of our Missing Link installation in Bombay Beach. Perfect timing.

03/21/2024

They say the Salton Sea is full of toxic chemicals. Others insist it is just really salty. Some believe the water is healthy, even healing. Despite decades of studies, "What's in the Salton Sea“ remains a mystery to many.

We filled 1,230 used plastic gallons with water from the Salton Sea a year ago for our "One Pound of Almonds" installation. The water mixed with milk residues, different flavored ice teas, and other sugary drinks. Sunlight, time, and chemical and biological reactions turned the water into various colors. So, we kept 40 of these gallons in our garage for a year. Now, they come out in our new site-specific installation, "What's in the Salton Sea ".

"What's in the Salton Sea" is a translucent wall of gallons placed at the shore in Bombay Beach. It invites people to reflect on the histories and mysteries of the Salton Sea. Last week, we opened "What's in the Salton Sea" as part of Bombay Beach Biennale 24. In addition to the site-specific installation we organized the "Bombay Beach Environmental Day" that explored the same question. The event brought together scientists, activists, local people, and artists to discuss the ecological and social impacts of the lake ecosystem, its history, current development, and possible futures.

A deep thank you to the wonderful people that helped us to pull it off: Kirsten ThysvandenAudenaerde Coryn Brisbane Steven Sharbach

03/14/2024

A year ago, we built our first site-specific installation, "One Pound of Almonds,“ at the Salton Sea during the Bombay Beach Biennale. "One Pound of Almonds“ makes almonds' water footprint tangible.

Over 80% of the world's almonds grow in California's arid Central Valley, which regularly suffers from drought and further aridification due to climate change. One pound of these almonds uses about 1,230 gallons of water to grow – almost 12 liters for a single kernel.

The installation consisted of 17 concentric circles of gallon jugs (3.78 liters each) filled with water, lit from within at night by tiny LEDs. A one-pound glass jar of almonds stood in the center of these circles on top of a small pillar. To get to the almonds, visitors pass along a narrow pathway through the field of water in 1,230 plastic gallons. In a three-day performance, we hand-filled the gallons by submerging them in the Salton Sea.

One Pound of Almonds was first installed during the 2023 Bombay Beach Biennale on the playa of the drying Salton Sea, which is suffering from the same wicked problems of climate change, water laws, and changing hydrologies as the almond-growing Central Valley. And their fates are closely connected.

Using 1,230 plastic jugs and about 4,600 liters of water for an art project could be counterproductive to shining light on wasteful environmental practices. Therefore, we collaborated with communities around the Salton Sea and friends to collect used gallons and sourced additional jugs from a recycling place in Brawley. We filled these jugs with water we borrowed from the Salton Sea and returned once the installation wrapped up. The pillar with the pound of almonds is the only trace left behind on the shore of the Salton Sea. As a permanent, site-specific installation, we hope it continues to spark debate and reflection about agricultural practices and their ecological consequences in the region and beyond.

03/13/2024

A year ago we build our first site specific installation "One Pound of Almonds“ at the Salton Sea during the Bombay Beach Biennale. "One Pound of Almonds“ makes almonds' water footprint tangible. One pound of almonds uses about 1,230 gallons of water to grow – almost 12 liters for a single kernel. The installation consisted of 17 concentric circles of gallon jugs (3.78 liters each) filled with water. A one-pound glass jar of almonds stood in the center of these circles on top of a small pillar. To get to the almonds, visitors pass along a narrow pathway through the field of water in 1,230 plastic gallons.
In a three-day performance, we hand-filled the gallons by submerging them in the Salton Sea. Filling the gallons took nearly 13 hours of human labor under a grudging sun. A runner then carried the full gallons to the solid part of the beach. From there, we placed them into the installation. This process invited the audience to consider Buckminster Fuller's "energy slaves," that army of invisible human labor equivalents in the form of fossil-fuel-driven pumps that typically deliver the water needed to grow a pound of almonds within seconds.
Thanks to Christopher Landis for the documentation.

02/22/2024

I am organizing a small environmental conference in Bombay Beach on March 17 that will focus on the Salton Sea. Save the date and let me know if you are in the region.

08/23/2023

Here are some impressions from our current LandRush exhibition at Kulturhaus Mestlin that runs till 10. September.
We are showing five chapters of our long-term investigation into global agriculture's social and environmental consequences: The drought in California's Central Valley, water issues along the Colorado River, the drying Salton Sea, and two intimate family farm stories from Iowa and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. There are also in-depth interviews with Robert Lustig MD about Metabolic Syndrom, Peter Gleick about water, Pat Mulroy about the Colorado River, and Jonathan Foley's Birds Eye view on agriculture.
Our show is part of the exhibition "achtung: exzellente Fotografie" that was put together by a dedicated team around Manfred Scharnberg. Come have a look.

03/22/2023

So excited about our new "One Pound of Almonds" project. It is a whole new way of working for us. We leave film and photography behind for the first time and build a site-specific installation that makes our foods’ water footprint tangible.
"One Pound of Almonds" will be installed during a three-day performance: Sitting on the shore beach, we start hand-pumping Salton Sea water into the 1230 gallons on March 28. It will take about three full days of human labor under a grudging sun - work that fossil-fuel-driven pumps usually provide within seconds. In so doing, the performance evokes Buckminster Fuller's invisible 'energy slaves,' the human-labor equivalents of fossil sunlight that we use daily in the form of fossil fuels like coal, gas, and petroleum.

"One Pound of Almonds" invites visitors to reflect on humankind's responsibility in the Anthropocene.

Address

Bombay Beach, CA
92257

Website

http://landrushproject.com/

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