Paula Bracker

The human relationship with the chemical element phosphorus is ambivalent. It is essential to all life on Earth, circulating through rocks, soil, crops, animals and every cell in our bodies. Yet it is also used in bombs, contributes to the pollution of aquatic ecosystems when over-applied, and is entangled with extractivism and colonialism. This project follows the element’s various pathways to understand its relevance within the Earth system and to examine where, when, why, how and by whom it is misused. Drawing on the metaphor of phosphorus as a pharmakon – a substance that is both remedy and poison – the research reflects on how the modern extractivist mindset has transformed a life-sustaining element into a force of harm. At the same time, phosphorus is employed as a tool for imagining how we are physically entangled with the Earth and for rethinking our relationship with nature. How can we responsibly handle phosphorus as a pharmakon in order to heal its disrupted cycle and contribute to environmental and human health?