Abstract

The Netherlands is in a nitrogen crisis, meaning the nitrogen emissions in the country are high and the deposition of nitrogen in nature is resulting in biodiversity loss, degradation of nature, and a disrupted ecosystem. This can be linked to the Dutch dairy industry because cows emit a lot of nitrogen in the form of ammonia (NH3). This research connects the lives of factory-farmed cows and the rela-tionship to non-human “others”, linked to the nitrogen crisis by using bio indicating. The lichen: Xanthoria Parietina reacts to ammonia and can be an indicator of ammonia pollution. Therefore, I use the method of bio-indicating with Xanthoria Parietina to map the pollution on the various farms I visit. This allows me to immerse into the life of the lichen with a “passionate immersion” (following Tsing and van Dooren). The method of photogrammetry helps me to perform bio-indicating, as it let one looks closely, with detail, and from every angle which supports the enquired methodology. Within my artistic practice, I use photogrammetry as a tool for mapping, visualizing, and storytelling. This research maps the neoliberal farming industry, its tactics, and the ways in which nitrogen pollution is systematized and stigmatized whilst concealing its entanglements with multiple species in an ecological word. Here, I see Xantoria Parietina as a guide, not only with its indicator abilities but also in its workings of symbiosis and parasitism. With these concepts of symbiosis and parasitism, I explore the care-like work that Xantoria Parietina does and reflect on the current farming practices in the Netherlands. With this, the lichen reconceptualizes the notion of care within the dairy industry, which becomes a methodology for moving forward.