During the Romantic period of the 19th Century, Turner’s depiction of landscapes explored the threat that nature could pose to the lives of men. He depicted the violence and power of nature through storms and dramatic skies and expressed his doubt that man could ever measure up to the sheer power of the cosmos ¹. In so doing, Turner transforms the classical landscape’s recognised benignity into a setting for battle between man and nature. This balance between pessimism and humility is relevant to this day as we attempt to understand the climate crisis. The threat of climate catastrophe and its devastating effects on our lives is a new battle that requires us to rethink our relationship with the world around us. The power in Turner’s depiction of nature’s overlooked background elements is relevant when considering our current disregard for our own detrimental practices and behaviours.

One such example is our current treatment of soil, which is an often invisible and underrepresented topic when considering climate change. Contamination from flood water ², pH change, and extreme weather events threaten to damage the soil structure. Furthermore, soil erosion and weathering ³, a consequence of over-farming and land mismanagement is linked to problems in ensuring adequate food production ⁴.

In Gloucestershire, south-west England where livestock farming is the traditional system of food cultivation, farmers and scientists are identifying the ways in which soil degradation might bring a stop to our current agricultural practices. Rising temperatures, extreme and extensive flooding, and the drying of topsoil ⁵ will limit food production if they are not mitigated. This project is a reaction to this ominous challenge, which considers how media can communicate our human relationship with the environment and the key players underneath our feet. Turner’s seemingly gloomy portrayal of Gloucestershire’s farmland in ‘Gloucester Cathedral’ seems to warn of the wildness and majesty of nature. How can this piece be engaged with in the modern context to make a similar warning about disregarding hidden powers of ecology such as soil in Gloucestershire?

This project is a visual discussion of climate change and its effects on soil in Gloucestershire’s agricultural land. The project takes advantage of bio-author weeds collected in the area that can tell us more about the conditions of acidity, moisture, and mineral content of the soil below. This non-intrusive method of assessing soil quality is tangible evidence of the current issues faced by the county due to the presence of many species indicative of waterlogged and nutrient deficient soil. The bio-author weeds project a new form of auto-biographical representation, where the landscape communicates its own warning of climate catastrophe.