GMU:Re-enchanting the field/The geo-history of oil shale in Estonia

10am, Zoom Link: https://dieangewandte-at.zoom.us/j/65584240536

The geo-history of oil shale in Estonia

Guest Lecture: Riho Mötlep, Institute for Geology and Earth Science, University of Tartu

Topics

What is oil shale? Topography of extraction Waste/Environmental impact

SLIDES Rohi Mötlep

ZOOM RECORDING

Methodological Briefing

Listening Exercise

Prepared by Prof. Kerstin Ergenzinger, brought by Nina Bendix Igleses

This listening–sensing exercise is designed to connect you with your non-visual senses as you explore different sites. Its purpose is to deepen your relationship with each location and enable you to compare and understand them in relation to one another.

File:Listening-excercise-revised.pdf

Measurement of electrical potentials in plants

Prepared by Mindaugas Gapševičius

This experiment offers insight into the electrochemical activity of living organisms such as plants, fungi, or even humans. By tracking a specimen over time—especially across the day—you may observe fluctuations in its bioelectric activity, reflecting internal and environmental changes. The experiment builds on Martin Howse's Interspecies Communication Platform (See for details: Kuni, V., Landwehr, D. Home Made Bio-Electronic Art).

Soil Chemistry

Prepared by Felix Bonowski

This set of experiments explores the invisible chemical properties of soils and ashes through color indicators, extraction techniques, and flame tests. These procedures highlight transformations in soil composition and provide insight into environmental processes such as erosion, mineral dissolution, and chemical reactivity.

File:Soil-chemistry-experiments-revised.pdf

Further reading:

Bead test:

https://de.wikibooks.org/wiki/Praktikum_Anorganische_Chemie/_Borax-_und_Phosphorsalzperle https://www.thoughtco.com/bead-test-in-chemical-analysis-4050801 Flame coloration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_test https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_line pH Indicators

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosmic_salt is the salt in the tube

Homework

Idea paper (1 page): What relational dynamics / transformations do you want to explore?

Follow Briefing on Google Drive.

Key Steps (in preparation of field week)

Select an object, organism, specimen, people or places to study
Conduct preparatory research based on course readings and online lectures
Summarize your research interest/planned experiment in the research diary on your personal wiki page

5+ sentences background info,
10+ sentences description: main object/focus of fieldwork, research question, anticipated outcomes
5+ technical description: tools, method, process
5+ references

Due: by April 30^th 2025 noon, upload paper on your wikipage

Examples Fieldprojects

Larisa Crunțeanu/Sonja Hornung

“to slip, to slide, to glitch: Navigating Uneasy Landscapes.” In: INSERT. Artistic Practices as Cultural Inquiries, Issue 6, Troubled Matter—Thinking with Sedimented Histories, 2024

Mareike Bernien/Alex Gerbaulet

„Sonne Unter Tage – Fragmente gesammelt auf den Halden unserer zusammengetragenen Geschichten“. In: INSERT. Artistic Practices as Cultural Inquiries, Ausgabe 6, Troubled Matter – Denken mit sedimentierten Geschichten, 2024

URL: https://insert.art/ausgaben/troubled-matter/sonne-unter-tage/ * DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14030408.

NOTE: This project is only interesting for the way they work with radiation as a photographic device, not for the concept note of the project. Using x-ray film for capturing the afterlife of uranium extraction is interesting. It allowed to visualize the recalibration of elemental flows in contaminated soils that would otherwise be imperceptible.