Some land is seen as “empty” or “underdeveloped,” becoming subject to a blank canvas where rails or extraction sites are built by others to be useful, functional, successful, thus developed. Government agendas, neoliberal investments, and diplomatic alliances create developmentalist momentum that short-circuits time and space. How might we shift the paradigm of development through the act of chewing and spitting – that is, using our own bodies, locally sourced materials, and their microorganisms to create a plot of land in which no one knows what will happen?!?!

RBSC creates an empty plot of land and fills it with materials either brought from our homes back in South Korea or foraged from Johannesburg. On this plot, layers of materials and actions – drying, brewing, squeezing – will be added to form a mixed landscape incorporating traditional/local knowledge and site-based skills/tech/methodologies. This ephemeral “land” will become “developed” into a mixture, but we will only know if this mixture is alive or dead, or fermented or decayed, after everything has happened. Depending on its outcome, we will conduct a small ritual that celebrates the birth or commemorates the death, or somewhere in between.

Bring your bodies, saliva, skin cells, microorganisms, and ingredients from home with all the knowledge and experiences accumulated in them through the walks of your lives – and celebrate!