Decay is the beginning.

It is the composition of transformation.

It is necessary for survival.

Decay grows from the physical acknowledgement of the history of its parts through their un-making.

Fertility is the result of the activities of decay.

Decay is the process of erosion. Erosion reveals sedimented histories - histories of settlement - of conquest and oppression of violence on bodies, violence on land. Eroding rock breaks open language and belief systems set in stone.

Decay and erosion are parables of entropy.

The process of entropy quantifies.

(words by kaitlin bryson)

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This work was made in response to the divisive and violent politics of 2020; the continuing violence suffered by people of color perpetrated by the police, the US government and white supremacists. The title of the work comes from Octavia Butler in “The Parable of the Sower” admonishing that we must let civilization collapse when change is essential. Working with the metaphor and material of fungi, the words (above) along with the names of those who have suffered homicide by the police (from 2014-2020) are consumed in total by the fungi living inside. These words and these names are prayers - fertility in action. They are prayers and sustenance for a future worth living in. Prayers for the decay of white supremacy. Prayers that the United States might change. Prayers that there might be justice in a future yet-unknown.

This work was buried at the Los Angeles Police Academy serving as a symbolic gesture for systemic remediation to take place at the very institution of policing. While the burial performance was going on, gun training was happening at the academy. Echos of bullets being fired played in the background. We offered prayers for change.

14” x 13” X 6” - Naturally-dyed fibers, embroidery, Pleurotous ostreatus mycelium.