Boyle Family: Nothing is more radical than the facts

Dig

On February 6, 1966, Boyle Family invited friends to Dig, an event in which participants were brought to a cordoned-off area and instructed to excavate items found in the ground. The location was the site of a demolished ornamental garden statue factory; around 200 of the statues and other objects that were found were exhibited at the Boyle's home.

Dig was hosted by the Institute of Contemporary Archaeology (ICA). Established specifically for the event, this entity would come to codify the motivations for Boyle Family’s larger practice. For Mark, the ICA represented "the view that anything that exists is part of the contemporary environment... an object is not unworthy of our interest because it happens to be old or damaged or picturesque."

Seeds for a Random Garden

Conceived by Joan Hills in 1966, Seeds for a Random Garden was a project that relates peripherally to the earthprobes. The work involved collecting seeds from areas of land selected randomly by throwing darts at a map. They were also gathered in other ways, such as requesting seeds from guests who attended their exhibition openings, or setting out mesh traps to catch seeds blown in the wind. These samples were then planted in portable boxes and exhibited.

Microscope Photographs

At every location of World Series, the Boyles collected specimens from the surrounding plant and animal life, including skin and hair samples from their own bodies. These elements were photographed under an electron microscope in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of that unique section of the earth. Experiments of this nature were preceded by a project called Body Works in 1969 in which randomly selected samples of Mark Boyle's skin were examined in the same way.