alexis elton

Calcium carbonate is a mineral that provides structure in most living things, from shells to soil to the bones in our bodies. Formed from trillions of plant and crustacean lives and over the course of millions of years, this chalky mineral is integral to life. It sends messages to plants in response to drought and environmental stress, and shifts PH levels in our body, water and soil. Calcium carbonate, also known as chalk and dolomitic limestone, is elemental to human’s food systems, construction materials, industries and medicines. This place-based project at Rosekill Art Farm allowed me to explore how minerals have the potential to heal living systems. It was presented as part of An/Aesthetics, an evolving exhibition of installations, actions, entanglements, performances, and public events on the grounds of Rosekill. It was assembled by Michael Asbill, Lital Dotan, Marielena Ferrer, and Emilie Houssart.

 

Over the course of several hours, I sifted 100 pounds of limestone chalk into dot forms or imagined cells to help regenerate ecological functions in a meadow. As I labored, wearing a sculptural earth tool made of chalk, the chalk wore away and made a drawing on my pants. Throughout the performance, my physical movements produced a recording of time. During this public event at the farm, I gave each participant a small parcel containing an antacid tablet and prompts for a calcium carbonate embodied experience. By consuming the tablet and following the prompts, they shifted their own body’s PH, which is exactly what calcium carbonates do in soil. 

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"Under Earth Pinning" were a series of concrete castings that exposed the underworld to its restorative underpinnings. The forms incorporated core samples of materials on site and calcium carbonate in a physical survey of compressed time. 

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As a caregiver and farmer, I help natural structures retain and return to balance. I see these small gestures of regenerative practice as the centers of beginnings that help dissipate and recalibrate human extraction. This work explores how a single mineral, calcium carbonate, has the capacity — both seen and unseen — to heal.