So Full of Worm Poop

By James Way

Tattfoo Tan, a social activist/artist practicing in Staten Island, works with the sustainability movement but combines an ironic approach to art history while embracing performance. One of several works on display is Black Gold, a parody of a 1961 work by Piero Manzoni (I’ll leave it to you to follow the link and find it), presents the efforts of composting taken to an artistic and economic extreme. Tan bottled his “secret recipe” compost and is selling it at the going rate for gold, although his website offers recession pricing. But don’t let this fool you; the artist is not full of sh*t when it comes to his mission: greening urban lifestyles. 

Tafftoo Tan demonstrates compost materials and methods.

Last week the artist, included in Irrelevant: Local Emerging Asian Artists Who Don’t Make Work About Being Asian, at the Arario Gallery in Chelsea, held a composting workshop on how to produce some of the finest, most fertile compost around. One of the missing components in many compost bins are worms: red worms, commonly known as red wrigglers, scientifically known as eisenia fetida. “Don’t forget the worms,” he warned. “They eat, have sex, reproduce, and poop all day. They’re great!” Worms can provide compost so fertile that some of your composting material may actually begin growing. He also warned against drowning or suffocating the worms. The artist’s website, under the Black Gold link, provides a basic overview on how to begin. 

Thursday July 22 at 8pm at the Arario Gallery he will provide an urban gardening workshop and round table discussion.