In the 1970s, Rex Autry’s grandfather began collecting small vials of dirt from his travels — slipping film canisters into his boots at security checkpoints, labeling each one by hand in Sharpie. What began as a practical alternative to expensive souvenirs became a lifelong archive spanning continents, decades, and hundreds of locations.

After his passing in 2023, the collection passed to Rex. With over 300 known samples — and likely double that undocumented — D.O.U.M.P. is now being catalogued as an artwork: a geological autobiography, a world made in miniature.