Better Safe than Sorry, 2017
Concrete impregnated canvas, artist's studio soil, open pollinated seeds, bolts, steel shelves
Dimensions variable

The installation Better Safe Than Sorry takes the form of an open archive, including a series of custom-made soil bags shaped in concrete canvas, a patented material used for ditch lining and the construction of slopes or bunkers. Suggesting the form of a contaminated archive susceptible to mutation, each bag holds a rich quantity of soil, with one containing a variety of open pollinated seeds that can be collected by the visitor, inciting the cultivation and propagation of non-patented seeds. Treating soil as a rare earth material, each bag is unique in shape, some displaying cuts or intersections that allude to dissemination and potential accidental forms of fertilisation. At the same time, the work’s title reminds us of the preventive acts needed in times of severe change – as an example, the creation of the first seed bank in northern Norway, Vault.