The Pedagogy of CompostingBioCV

Letting  Things Rot


2022
Participatory performance and mixed media
Variable sizes


In September 2022, Camila and John Wann organized a workshop and participatory performance at the Orchard Community Learning Center in South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ. The workshop focused on composting, where participants were introduced to the concept of composting as a praxis. The group discussed the parallels between reflection/digestion and action/care in a dialogue. Sharing ideas around the similarities between digestion and reflection as metabolic processes that break down matter and separate nutrients from toxins, the dialogue catalyzed composting as a framework for digesting putrid ideological knowledge that no longer nurtures the maintenance of life. Caring for compost was emphasized as a habitual and embodied learning – composting as a way of knowing. Through this, material and intimate relationships with rot can transform decay into a fertile life. Even more so, this performance underscores the vital importance of uncovering the potential mutually beneficial relationships that can be cultivated with organic waste and composting critters.

The participants were given a small zine and, at the end of the workshop, were asked to express their thoughts by answering the question, "What would you like to return to earth?." Their responses were then transferred to carbon paper and added to the compost bin built by the group during the performance.