games for humans and others

Last chance to see 𝙋𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨 & 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚 👀✨ closing reception tonight at 4 pm! 𝙋𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨 & 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚 is an ongoing experimental time-negotiating kitchen laboratory by Kosmologym (Walker Tufts & Greg Stewart). It contrasts two human attempts to alter the flow of time. In the kitchen, we freeze, dehydrate, and pickle foods to remove them from their usual cycle of decay. In contrast, we freeze and thaw concrete to simulate the passage of entire seasons in a single day 🪨 Take for example, 𝙎𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙙/𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙨 (image 1)—the Belmnitella americana was an ancient cephalopod, relative to the ancestors of today’s squids. This fossil is from New Jersey. The carbon from a specific Belmnitella fossil found in the Pee Dee River in South Carolina was used to determine the 0 value for the delta scale used in relative isotope-ratio measurements of carbon. Measuring changing ratios of Carbon12 and Carbon13 isotopes can also help us understand the ratio of carbon in the atmosphere to that in the ocean. The Belmnitella biomineralized the calcium carbonate through a similar process to how S. pasteurii makes bioconcrete. Quartz wall clock: a frequency reference is at the core of every clock. A pendulum completes a swing once a second, a quartz crystal (silicone dioxide) cut into a tiny tuning fork, vibrates 32,768 times per second. The quartz crystal is piezoelectric and so not only vibrates but also produces an electrical charge, which drives the clock hands more accurately than a pendulum. 🫙 To learn more about works in the show, visit 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦.𝘤𝘰𝘮 (🔗 in profile) 𝙋𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨 & 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚 November 15 - January 11, 2026 Open Weekends, Noon - 6 pm 📍Flux IV (56-21 2nd St, LIC) Artists: @kosmologym @jw4lker Photos: Walker Tufts

Thanks to all who joined us last weekend to celebrate the openings of 𝙄𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙖 𝘼𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙖: 𝙏𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙖 𝙈𝙤𝙟𝙖𝙙𝙖 (𝙒𝙚𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙙) and Kosmologym’s 𝙋𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨 & 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚 ⭐️ 📍 Flux IV (56-21 2nd Street, LIC) ⏳Open Weekends, Noon-6 PM Artists: @italaaguilera @jw4lker @gregstewart7328 @kosmologym Images: Pasha Cas

Watershold was at the @dukehallgallery in the Both Sides of the River exhibition  Watershold responds to the lost gundalows of the Shenandoah River with the wooden forms used to create the experimental Dirtball concrete key rolled up into a boat. This boat is fragmented and tossed up against different sculptures caught between the Shenandoah River and Dirtball.  📷: Tom Cogill . Img 1: Three doll house size models of the 72 room purple martin hotel built for the first Dirtball court are mounted on the back of a basketball backboard leaning against a tall cart stacked with molds for making clay letters. These doll house models are the size of a single room in the original purple martin hotel. Inside these models are images of Dirtball courts and the architectural remnants of the repurposed Shenandoah River gundalows. They are all standing on an overturned chimney swift tower painted white and forest green. Img 2: Poplar rectangles come together to make a boat shaped like the key or free throw lane of a basketball court. Around the sides of the boat are the structure from Img 1, Another section of chimney swift tower, and pallets covered in sandbags. There’s a small table rising from the back of the boat. Above Watershold Carolina Caycedo's "San Gabriel River," a 55-foot scroll, dips in and out of view. Off the port side of the boat a series of photos by Mary Mattingly and in front of the boat a film by Marco Avila Forero.  Img 3: A small table holds a tarot deck size concrete paver, a smart phone size block of suet and a haphazard pile of tarot size cards from a mysterious game.  Img 4: A grid of poplar rectangles that make up the interior of the Dirtball boat, a long steering pole rests diagonally across the top of the photo. In three of the poplar forms we see the words “VIOLETS, BREAKS, ROCKS” #ecologicalart #bothsidesoftheriver #dirtball #watershold

Mixing Dirtball’s experimental concrete. Each Winterfield Dirtball paver is a mixture of at least rockdust, biochar, local metavolcanic rock crushed to gravel and fines, water, cement and air. The different pavers in the court use different formulas and will decay, from the action of basketball and weathering, at different rates.  #winterfieldcommunitygarden #artandecology #artandscience #artanddirt #dirtball With funding from @asccharlotte A little more about the metavolcanic rock geology: Metavolcanic Rocks, undivided–Rocks of either felsic metavolcanic (mvf) and mafic and intermediate metavolcanic (mvm) type or commonly both interbedded. Those of Charlotte belt are probably correlative, at least in part, with felsic metavolcanic rocks (Zbvf) and mafic to intermediate metavolcanic rocks (Zbvm) of the Battleground Formation. (Geological complex Descriptions from USGS MIsc Investigation Series I-1251-E)

Processing clay dug up on site, cutting clay into letters, and putting the letters to sleep  #winterfieldcommunitygarden #artandecology #artandscience #artandsoil #dirtball With funding from @asccharlotte

Filling the Dirtball Keys! Thanks to Martin Marietta and the Matthews Quarry for donating the local metavolcanic rock that is mixed into and beneath Dirtball's experimental concrete pavers. Here we’re preparing the beds, spreading gravel that helps the pavers lay flat and aids in drainage and spreading the compost that will get mixed into the clay soil when the Winterfield Children’s Garden plants the Dirtball garden.    #winterfieldcommunitygarden #artandecology #artandscience #artandgames #dirtball  With funding from @asccharlotte A little more about the metavolcanic rock geology: Metavolcanic Rocks, undivided–Rocks of either felsic metavolcanic (mvf) and mafic and intermediate metavolcanic (mvm) type or commonly both interbedded. Those of Charlotte belt are probably correlative, at least in part, with felsic metavolcanic rocks (Zbvf) and mafic to intermediate metavolcanic rocks (Zbvm) of the Battleground Formation. (Geological complex Descriptions from USGS MIsc Investigation Series I-1251-E)

Chimney Swift Tower construction! Chimney Swifts make a satisfying airborne mess of our tendency to divide nature and culture since they nest predominantly in human made architecture. We’re excited to put up this chimney swift tower as an invitation to swifts to play Dirtball at Winterfield Community Garden. #dirtball #chimneyswift #kosmologym #winterfieldcommunitygarden

Marking out and preparing the future concrete and garden keys for the dirtball court. #dirtball #winterfieldcommunitygarden

Yesterday, with the help of folks from @clayworksclt we got started on our third Dirtball court here at Winterfield Community Garden here in Charlotte, NC. Ralph Mello brought in local clay and with the help of @corsairceramics and @abbybarringerpottery we prepared that clay to become the text in our Dirtball court. Thanks Clayworks! @gregstewart7328 #dirtball

Today is World Soil Day. Tomorrow @glopezsez will be offering a free, online workshop with the @qplnyc if you want to learn more about bioremediation Gil's webinar is a great place to start! Slide 2 from @glopezsez Slide 1: United Nations: world soil day Soil salinization: a threat to our global pantry “Salts are present naturally in soils and water, and they move freely through the soil. Naturally saline soils may support rich ecosystems, but natural processes such as droughts and human activities, especially improper irrigation, can increase how many salts are in soils, a process that is called salinization. Soil salinization breaks down our soils and reduces their ability to help our food grow.”    Soil salinization and sodification are major soil degradation processes threatening ecosystem and are recognized as being among the most important problems at a global level for agricultural production, food security and sustainability in arid and semi-arid regions. Slide 2: DIY: Grassroots Bioremediation: Cleaning Our Environment with Microbes, Fungi & Plants  Dec 6 10-11:30 am EST More info @glopezsez  We can heal our soil, air, and water, naturally. Urban farmer/environmental educator Gil Lopez takes a closer look at persistent toxins in our urban environment and some safety protocols around these and will offer pathways for stewards like us to start cleaning them up using his coremediation, microbial remediation, and phytoremediation techniques. He will discuss specific processes including environmental biotechnologies that the natural world has employed to balance human made toxicity. Join here: /3CwNfDd Call-In +1-408-418-9388 Access Code 2343

Come play Dirtball! We’re opening our latest Dirtball court on Governors Island this Saturday July 17th from 12-4pm! Dirtball is a re-imagined basketball court where humans, plants, animals, minerals and microorganisms can play together to nurture soil and increase its carbon sequestration. Join us this Saturday as we introduce our latest court. The Urban Soils Institute @urbansoilsmania will be on-site doing free soil testing. Kosmologym artists Walker Tufts & Greg Stewart will be on site as well as fellow Project: Soils Artists: Tessa Grundon @tessa.grundon & Makalé Cullen + Jason Smith, with Dr. Richard Shaw. You can find Dirtball in the Urban Farm Dirtball was built for the Urban Soils Institute’s Project: Soils’ Swale House residencies. Special Thanks to our crowdfund supporters and all the folks that helped make this court possible (see complete list on our website).

Happy Earth Day! We’re celebrating @franconiamn by doing some repairs on our first Dirtball court that has experienced more slam dunks than expected and then we’re on our way to NYC to install Dirtball on Governors Island.  As we shoot drone footage of Dirtball, we’re thinking about how Bill Anders’ iconic earth rise photo from the moon helped inspire the first Earth Day (51 years ago). It’s crazy to need to go that far to see what’s right beneath our feet. With Dirtball we’re trying to frame our relationship to the vast web of more than humans that constitute soil without a flight to the moon. #dirtball #artandecology #earthday