Art as decomposition: Soichiro Mihara’s Making Soil

It is widely acknowledged that soil comprises an abundance of both biotic and abiotic components, rendering it a complex and dynamic milieu in which these elements are intricately entangled. Scholars have redirected their attention to the significance of soil, its functions and the diverse array of life it sustains, fostering critical discussions that challenge traditional anthropocentric perspectives. In the realm of art, in response to the urgency of environmental concerns in contemporary society, artists have begun to explore soil in innovative ways. Soichiro Mihara’s Making Soil (2021–present) is a notable example. Mihara is an artist who presents a system open to the world and attempts to reinterpret natural materials and phenomena as art. In this work he focuses on the soil, which is the key to the material cycle that today’s environmentally conscious people unconditionally endorse. His work visualizes life and death, the entanglement of diverse beings and decomposition in the soil, and foregrounds the fact that the material cycle itself is designed. Therefore, this article reveals that Making Soil draws our attention to attitudes and behaviours that we take for granted in solving the current crises and issues, serves as a critical reflection on them, and prompts us to reconsider their implications and consequences.