Toxic Tour Beer Coasters + Soil Lab
Margaret Boozer/ Raina Martens + UnInc.
LandTrust exhibition
Meyerhoff Gallery, MICA
Jan. 19-Feb 22, 2018
2018 Toxic Tour Beer Coasters + Soil Lab
Artist's notes
12/8/17
Artist Statement
Toxic Tour Beer Coasters + Soil Lab
Margaret Boozer/ Raina Martens + UnInc.
As part of the LandTrust exhibition
Meyerhoff Gallery
Jan. 19-Feb 22, 2018
Trained as a sculptor and ceramist, Margaret Boozer developed an interest in digging native clays that has led to collaborations with soil scientists and work that explores intersections of art and science. Raina Martens combines ceramic work and installation with her research into waste and toxic byproducts. She grants afterlives to materials like sludge and coal ash, melding them into work that dramatizes the entanglement of social and material worlds. Boozer and Martens have teamed up to support the work of environmental activist, Glenn Ross and his Toxic Tours of East Baltimore. With the help of UnInc., (a subsidiary of Red Dirt Studio, comprising a variable collective of creative professionals developing strategies for cooperative futures through reuse and recycling), Boozer and Martens produce sets of Toxic Tour Beer Coasters composed of materials collected at each of Ross’ Toxic Tour sites. Soil Lab sets up a workstation in the gallery, inviting and training volunteers in collecting site samples, creating beer coasters, and soliciting community engagement. The coasters are tangible objects, connecting purchasers and participants to Ross’ work at the most basic level, the ground.
Glenn Ross Toxic Tour Map HERE
Beer Coasters available on Etsy HERE
(or search “Environmental Racism” on Etsy site)
Funds from sales of the coasters go to Ross’ education and outreach efforts.