CONTAMINATION

O

A

I

A

I

N

C

N

T

M

N

T

O

the world is dirty

so are we

filth in thought

and existence

you never make

the bed

that's not so bad

not really

but the sheets

are

in the end

the worst

thing

is

the residue

of

you

in me

which

resides

all the

ugliest parts

seeped in through

my skin

and

stick

in

my mind

you turned

me

into

a

vessel

of

your

sorrow

The Earth is not an ethereal entity, a mere concept: dealing with the earth is dealing with humus, with the soil and rot, with creatures from the underground and overground of which we are composed by and of. It is dirty business. Deleuze and Guattari’s use of the word terre, a french term including earth, land and soil, communicates this well.

‘We are contaminated by our encounters; they change who we are as we make way for others. As contamination changes world-making projects, mutual worlds—and new directions—may emerge. Everyone carries a history of contamination; purity is not an option. One value of keeping precarity in mind is that it makes us remember that changing with circumstances is the stuff of survival.'

Anna Tsing, Mushroom at the End of the World: 26

filth grime muck mud crud dust smut mire slime soot stain tarnish dross grot gunk impurity ooze scum slob sludge smudge stains grunge gunge yuck dreck dregs gook goo slush guck slop silt

contamination