e.a.r.t.h. to san diego

Part handbook, part history book, part art book, E.A.R.T.H. to San Diego — Essential Artist Resource + Technology Handbook — is a guide to making art with what you can find in San Diego. Made in the spirit o

f the Whole Earth Catalog, the book explores the role of the artist if they could only make art with what's locally around them, and what could be made from San Diego's native and invasive materials.

the materials

Eighteen species and waste streams, native, invasive, and discarded. Giant kelp. California fan palm. Eucalyptus. Local clay. Spent grain from breweries. Plastic from the beach. Bottle caps. Each material gets a chapter.

what each chapter covers

What it is. Where to find it in the region. When and how to harvest or collect it. How to process it. What it becomes — pigment, paper, ink, dye, binder, sculptural mass.

the history

The book opens with a brief history of San Diego, beginning with the Kumeyaay, who have lived in the region for twelve thousand years and have the longest knowledge of its landscape.

blank pages

The back of the book is left blank for the reader's own notes, drawings, and recipes.

The first edition sold out. A second is being considered.

Co-edited with Sofia Bair. Designed by Casa Tamarindo with Kaidan Pascua.