From Earth: Oberschwappach-Reinhardswinden 1999

Herman de Vries created "From Earth: Oberschwappach-Reinhardswinden" with soil he gathered from the area near Oberschwappach-Reinhardswinden in Germany. De Vries is a conceptual artist, who, since the early 1950s, has been concerned with humanity’s fraught relationship with nature. De Vries is influenced by a deep understanding of the earth's materials and an activist’s sensitivity to the precarity of our planet. He invites us to reconsider our relationship with the planet, and challenges us to think about our place within it. He gathers and meticulously arranges earth and plant specimens, and, in doing so, asks the viewer to really see, feel, and smell the ground beneath our feet. "From Earth" is both materially present and a stand-in for a particular place. De Vries’ works are more than just aesthetic objects. They are philosophical statements and urgent pleas for environmental stewardship. By bringing the earth into the gallery, he collapses the distance between us and the environment, urging us to acknowledge our interconnectedness.