Hot Slags & Fertile Hoes

As a by-product of metal smelting, slag is mostly used as a filler in road construction or an aggregate in concrete. Because of its unpredictable composition, little or no consideration is given to its fertilizing potential, such as the way its oxide content can balance pH levels in acidic soils. For industry, unpredictability means difficulty; for craft, it represents opportunity. Anky Coelen Molina uses craft as a method to set up a dialogue between material and maker in order to explore the properties of slag. Her set of agricultural tools made from slag fertilize the earth as you use them; wearing them out leaves slag – and its nourishing components – in the soil.