3 channels, 5.1. audio, 8:42 min 2021- 2023

“The Ground looks at the climate crisis through the lenses of artistic research, field experiments and digital simulation. These methods enable the researcher to explore things otherwise inaccessible to human senses because they are invisible, imperceptible or too abstract, such as the microscopic particles of aerosols or smells. Can we see a smell? How does it change as it goes through different environments in the course of fossil fuel and energy production?

Chasing these fine particles, we move from the subterranean layers into the stratosphere and from the interior of the human body to the long memory, where temporal dimensions explode. Veermäe does not consider the climate crisis from a dystopian perspective but takes an epistemological stance, exploring ways in which an artist can make changes in climate physically and emotionally perceptible. Can we monitor climate or engage in technological manipulation through art? Playing with technology, the artist probes the limits of human perception to get a better understanding of the processes underway now and in the future. He follows the scientists, holding up a distorting mirror to their achievements and promises. The artist of the Anthropocene is a sensitive jester who points to vulnerabilities, dependencies and connections and builds bridges between matter, place and time.“

Ulrike Plath

The work is done with help by: Steffen Manfred Noe, Estonian University of Life Sciences / SMEAR; Ainar Varinurm, Kohtla-Järve Oil Shale Museum; Marek Maasikmets, Mart Vill, Riina Titova and Olfometry Expert Group, Estonian Environmental Research Centre; Miina Krabbi, Tallinn-Harku Meteorological Station; Kalle Pirk, Oil Shale Competency Centre; Ralf L. Kraak, Lindenberg Weather Museum; Etti Kagarov and Jüri Sala, Estonian Oil Shale Museum; Mare Isakar, TÜ Natural Museum; Evelin Pääsukene, Estonian Natural Museum; Rutt Hints, taltech

In the pervious versions the Ground was combined with Second Earth.