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Sunday 22 May 2011

A Centaur in the Compost?

Eroding Centaur K Howell Pastel on Paper 21 cm x 14 cm
     Transforming organic material into rich, useful compost takes layers and time. In the depths of the dark bin, the hourglass cores of apples, the coils of orange peel and the revolting string-and-seed guts of squash start to smell. Fungi and worms get very interested. A little warmth, a little water (or urine, for those with a dedication to superior nitrate-rich results), a lot of stirring things up and giving it Time, and there are Results. A substance which smells fresh with possibility,  quite suitable for sustaining lovely new plants. Such as - oh, pick one at random, say, purple basil. The metamorphosis from the sordid to the sublime makes the compost bin an interesting place to investigate.
     I tend to think we perceive the world based on the compost of our lives. Which isn't a limitation, we're constantly adding new things. And while you can't control what everybody else throws in, at least it's variety.
     So here's to aerobic bacteria, and the transformation of the mundane.
    

2 comments:

  1. i LOVE the analogy re compost of out lives

    before reading your words and just upon viewing the image it put me in mind of coming out or breaking through, if that makes any sense-you've rendered it so luscious and sensual-who'da thought compost could be so sexy!

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  2. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Compost is often underrated.

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