Matter Out of Place: Why 'Dirt Work' Is Essential for Creative Growth and Innovative Art

Anthropologist Mary Douglas described dirt as 'matter out of place'. 

Things aren't dirty in themselves, but become dirty in contexts where they don’t belong. Shoes on the floor aren't dirty, but shoes on the kitchen table are. 

In art, ‘dirt work’ involves engaging directly with materials considered out of place in a given context. For instance, making music out of ‘noise’ or art out of ‘non-art’.

Dirt work is essential for growing creatively and producing innovative work.

Here’s why:

Closed structures go stagnant

Structures that don’t engage with their exclusions eventually go stagnant. 

Closed off from anything that can call their rules into question, they reinforce their own ideals, producing predictable results.

If you don’t develop a practice of dirt work, you’ll limit your creative growth and produce predictable work.

Dirt has a disruptive effect

Engaging with dirt has a disruptive impact.

When things that have been kept apart connect, it challenges assumptions and generates a proliferation of new meanings and interpretations. 

Dirt makes a space ambiguous and disordered – a precondition for a new, innovative structure.

Dirt work shifts the borders of a structure

When you invite dirty elements into a structure, you call its borders into question. Suddenly, the space becomes less defined, and its shape seems up for grabs.

These are prime conditions for reordering. 

Once the boundaries of a structure alter, new pathways for innovation and expression open up.

By incorporating dirt, you’ll create a space for unlikely things to connect, helping you grow artistically and produce more innovative work.