A Journey Through Rock and Microbe

Fumbling through the history of everything in one day.

A practical workshop in rescaling and re-enchanting the human, through the teachings of Rock and Microbe. 

We shall talk about deep time, we shall play some games, we shall taste and make a fermented (vegan & gluten-free) potion to take home, and we shall (try to) remember the wonder and bizarreness of being a human. 

We will begin with a guided walk, exploring the geology of Bristol. Observing the landscape and contemplating the power of rock. From this we will delve deep down to the beginning of creation.

How did Earth form? How did rock create life? Is a rock alive? The impossibly unlikely sequence of events that provided the right conditions for life - a massive globular mass called Theia smashing into Earth, forming the moon and tides whilst tilting the planet off its axis to begin the cycle of the seasons. So cycles and seasons came from a random collision of matter that was cycling in a solar system, spinning in a universe which we don’t know where it ends or hardly where it begins… What!?

Then we shall eat lunch.

Afterwards, we will encounter the fumbling ingenuity of microbes through a meditative expedition into microbiology. Our so-called Anthropocene could never have unfolded without the ancient and ongoing Microbiocene; on a single occasion, sometime, somewhere, a microbe engulfed another, and instead of being digested, this other became a fresh, functioning part of it. This fateful partnership is so miraculously improbable that it has only happened once, and you, reading this (as well as oak trees, coral reefs, DJs, daschunds, mycellial networks and every other form of multicellular life ever) descend from that original merger. Groovy stuff… 

We shall attempt to make sense of the multitudes we contain within our symbiotic selves. We will be making water kefir, and learning about the processes taking place inside our bodies as we taste its microbial goodness. 

And lastly, stories… With fizzing brains and bodies, we come to our own human, fumbling, world-making tool. How can these tales of cyclical, stable rock and playful, daring microbes inspire and counsel us as we move through the human narratives of our time?

Structure of the day:
10 - 11 Journey through rock
11 - 1 Journey through microbe
1 - 2 Lunch
2 - 4 Journey through story

Who is welcome?
Trick question, everyone is welcome besides those who have a deep hatred for rocks and microbiology, and even you are invited but be warned for a spiritual transformation may be awaiting. You do not need any prior knowledge of geology or biology, just an ant in your pants which keeps nibbling for answers to questions that have no end.

What to bring?
A jar for the fermentation, a notebook if you like capturing information through the currency of words. And any rocks or pebbles if you are one of the secret mountain lovers who dwell within the city.