In celebration of dirt…

Would you like to witness famous arsenic murder trials, visit a Victorian hospital for venereal disease, or build your own microbe to take home with you? Wellcome Collection has arranged a whole series of dirt-themed events to coincide with its latest exhibition, Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life, which started on Thursday and runs until 31st August.

I rather fancy the walking tour with Tony Dobbs, a street sweeper in Kentish Town, where you can ‘find out what it’s like to deal with the detritus of yet another debauched London weekend.’ Or, taking a splash in the the sewage system with Rob Smith, Thames Water’s chief flusher, which promises ‘disgusting conditions…the sewer system is a great leveller – everyone has to go to the toilet.’  Other events include a dirty banquet, a decontamination unit at the Glastonbury Festival and, during half term, the Eden Project will be telling children all there is to know about poo.

Then there’s the main exhibition itself, where the term ‘dirt’ includes dust, excrement, rubbish, bacteria, soil – and, metaphorically – social, cultural or ethnic outsiders. Following British anthropologist Mary Douglas’s observation that dirt is defined by its context, this eclectic show uses six different urban locations to explore something that’s a threat to our health but is also vital to our existence. Although the disparate mix of dirty exhibits – encompassing art, literature, design, photography and science – may not appeal to everyone, each contribution tells a fascinating story (click twice on the images to enlarge):

There’s a welcoming (excuse the pun) doormat of ‘home dust’ by Igor Eskinja (2011). And Waltzer – a ‘deceptively ordinary’ wooden broom with opals, turquoise, garnets, seed pearls, mother of pearl, black diamonds and white diamond, by Susan Collis (2007), which ‘pays testament to the invisible labour involved in both cleaning and craft.’

Five ‘anthropometric modules’ made from human faeces by the people of Sulabh in India are part of a larger artwork comprising 21 modules in total – which makes perfect sense in a city that’s home to the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets.

A reproduction of a poster for the first International Hygiene Exhibition in Dresden, 1911, painted by Franz von Stuck, has an all-seeing eye looking down from the heavens – watching over and seeing through the human body. This seemed appropriate at a time when microscopes and X-rays were revealing new secrets about the body.

The Glaserne Frau (glass woman – as seen above) is a 1980 recreation of the original Glaserne Mensch (Glass Human), which was the German Hygiene Museum’s star exhibit when it opened in 1930. The first models were developed in the shed of a jam factory during the late 1920s using human bones, electric cable, light bulbs and, crucially, a newly available transparent material, called ‘Cellon.’

Part of the exhibition has the London Street of 1854 as its theme. In this year, the city notorious for its stinking river, dust heaps and underclass of scavengers was hit by a devastating outbreak of cholera, thought to have been caused by bad air, or ‘miasma’. Exhibits include the map produced by John Snow to prove that cholera was in fact spreading through polluted water.

There’s much more to see at this curiously fascinating exhibition, where dirt is also portrayed as a symbol of hope. And, looking at the many categories of scavenger and street cleaner, as depicted in illustrations of mid 19th century London, made me think that doing away with mechanized recycling centres might be a way of helping to create more employment?

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About Author Profile: Susan Muncey

Trend consultant Susan Muncey, is Editor of Visuology Magazine. In 2008, she founded online curiosity shop, ShopCurious.com. She writes on style and trends for several blogs, including Visuology.com, ShopCuriousMag.com and The Dabbler. She previously owned cult West London boutique, Fashion Gallery, one of the first concept stores in the world. Susan graduated in geography from Cambridge University and is also an Associate Member of the CFA Institute. She lives in London with her husband.

5 thoughts on “In celebration of dirt…

  1. b.smedley@dsl.pipex.com'
    March 26, 2011 at 11:44

    That’s a fascinating account, Susan – and particularly topical now that school holidays are (almost) looming. Little boys do have a sort of affinity with dirt, or so I am reliably informed.

    More broadly, though, the Wellcome Collection is an amazing place, not least in its institutional willingness to take a close look at subjects other exhibition spaces wouldn’t touch. E.g. their ‘War and Medicine’ show was one of the best things I’ve seen: unsentimental, unsparing, bleakly funny and occasionally even encouraging.

  2. Worm
    March 26, 2011 at 12:31

    This exhibition looks fascinating! Talking of John Snow, there’s a fairly good faction novel called Sweet Thames by Matthew Kneale that mashes together Snow and Bazelgette’s lives into an enjoyable whodunnit.

    Personally I’ve always thought I’d enjoy being a mudlark

  3. info@shopcurious.com'
    March 26, 2011 at 14:24

    Barendina, the Wellcome Collection’s exhibitions are free too – and they have a great cafe and bookshop. On Friday 8th there’s a special evening event inspired by four elements: arsenic, iodine, oxygen and mercury – there will be ornamental pools of mercury, the opportunity to breathe pure oxygen and participate in interactive experiments… (no payment was made for this plug)

    I agree, Worm, mudlarking would be rather fun, if you didn’t have to make a living from it. I will check out the book – though, being a geographer, I’m a bit snowed out: His work was one of the first examples of spatial analysis and we had to do some mind-numbing statistical research on spatial autocorrelation relating to it at college.

  4. jgslang@gmail.com'
    March 26, 2011 at 14:36

    Obviously another fascinating Wellcome Collection exhibition.

    Those who noted the link to Museum of Toilets might be interested in a recent post on the ever-excellent Spitalfields Life blog which features (with pictures) the magnificent toilets beneath John Wesley’s Chapel in the City Road, London. The setting aside, these were designed by ballcock pioneer Thomas Crapper himself. The models in question are eight Valveless Waste Preventers. The urinals are credited to George Jennings – the inventor of the public toilet.

    http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/02/23/at-gods-convenience/

  5. info@shopcurious.com'
    March 26, 2011 at 14:50

    Thanks Jonathon, love the mosaic floor. Curious that in the introduction to the video they play Baker Street… Hearing the flushing lavatories reminded me that I forgot to include my favourite illustration from the Dirt exhibition – William Heath’s vision of Thames Water as Monster Soup – a microcosm dedicated to the London Water Companies.

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