Next Epoch Seed Library

Ellie Irons and I are collaborating on a new project: Next Epoch Seed Library.

Ellie posted our project description and call for participation on Medium. Check it out! We’ll be launching in March and hope to have a varied collection by then with many different species, locations, and contributors represented.

She also had some very pragmatic words on why native species are interesting but not all that great or important or helpful.

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Now some of you may be thinking: this seems like an enjoyable, innocuous activity…sort of…but should we really be gathering and promoting the seeds of weeds? Aren’t they ecologically damaging? Aren’t they a nuisance? Good question! I ….Yes, weedy species are aggressive, often not “native”, and can be prone to altering the composition of delicately balanced, historically relevant ecosystems

BUT: maybe what we need more than historically relevant ecosystems (those that mirror a past ideal of a bio-diverse, well-functioning environment), are living, breathing plants that are up to the task of dealing with the shit-storm we’ve created. Thriving plant communities come with loads of ecological and social benefits. Is it really worth raging against the geographical pedigree of a plant introduced 200 years ago if it’s functioning to stabilize soil, feed late season pollinators, generate oxygen, cool the ground, and improve human mental health? Sure, there are villainous weeds out there (think Kudzu), but it’s all context-based, and plant communities that suffer from being overrun by a weedy villain are often not in the best shape to begin with. Or so I hear from some of the ecologists I’ve grilled on this topic.

In the end, humans have made inaccurate assumptions so many times about so many things, that I’ve decided I’d like to (in general) fall on the side of life. If something has a will to live, I’d like to give it a chance. And these weeds certainly have that in spades. If you’re unconvinced, or want more evidence, I’ve enjoyed and been edified by the sources below over the past few months. As noted by Stuart K. Allison, landscapes decimated by human activity can be restored to their “original historical trajectory” without being returned to “their exact historical past”. This is my point exactly: ecosystems can still be functional with new mixtures of plant communities. Let’s not waste human energy, time, and herbicide fixing something that’s already working. We have bigger fish to fry.

Photo taken by Ellie in a former parking lot in Providence, RI.

Car Park / Art of the MOOC

Started watching the material from the 1st lessons of The Art of the MOOC, and they mentioned this piece by Nina Katchedourian, Stephen Matheson, and Mark Tribe, and WOW.

Carpark from Mark Tribe on Vimeo.

WHAT A MOOC

I just signed up for ART of the MOOC: Merging Public Art and Experimental Education, produced by Creative Time. I’m very interested in this format & the possibility of creating a dispersed community!

Palm Reading – 99PI

My “New Growth” Sculptures were installed recently at Drew University. It was a fantastic setting for these sculptures and great opportunity, but one funny thing happened right after installation. Before the cement was dry on the palm tree, someone had stolen it.

Of course I took this as a misplaced sign of approval – pilfering is a complement whereas vandalism is the opposite.

After a campus-wide email (the digital equivalent of LOST/REWARD posters), one half of the sculpture was returned anonymously – It was left in a parking lot, propped against the car of an administrator. (Each tree is made up of two sides, front and back.) I recreated the missing side using the returned half as reference, and all was well.

I recently heard the podcast episode “Palm Reading” on the fantastic podcast 99% Invisible regarding palm theft (which is apparently a thing….some live palms are worth up to 20K!) and also an analysis of what palms signify in our culture.

[Orientalist Study, Figures by the Water, Egypt (c. 1890) by A. Marchettini]

The Spirit of Elsewhere….the Holy Land…Exoticism…Orientalism….Luxury and Leisure….

What New Jersey college student wouldn’t want an occasional taste of these things, all evoked by this particular species of plant.

#WeWillBeRemindedOfLuxuryEverywhereWeGo

Take a listen.

The Right to Be Lazy

By John Knight and Sigfried Krakauer

Excerpt from essay by An Paenhuysen:

[The piece] goes unnoticed by most visitors because, at first sight, it is very common. The installation of the piece took place in 2009. I was present when the Californian artist John Knight had a simple request for the gardener: the grass in the rondel had to be left untouched from that moment on. The piece is then also titled The Right To Be Lazy. It is inspired by a 1883 manifesto by Paul Lafargue. Lafargue, who was the son in law of Karl Marx, wrote his manifesto as a protest against the dominating working ethics, including Marx’. Only in laziness, so he argued, ideas can come and culture can exist. Therefore Lafargue pleaded for the 3-hour working day: also the worker has a right for his/her own culture.

Thanks, Sarah, for the tip!

 

Notes from Art and Environmentalism Panel @ Drew

I greatly enjoyed yesterday’s syposium  at Drew University, organized by Valerie Hegarty. Here are some notes on the final 2 speakers:

 

David Brooks:

“To think in terms of millions of years in the present moment”

“Citizen Science”

Witnessing large dynamics that happen outside of viewshed = what art can do

“Environmentalist Hangover”

“Traces of Real Life Lived”

 

Ideas of Wilderness

Biblical – Where the infidels live

Romantic – Welcomed/fearful infinity of the sublime

American – Manifest Destiny

Garden of Eden to Harvest & Industrial Progress

Proof of God / God’s Cathedrals

Science – Finite / Stewardship

 

 

Natalie Jeremijenko

“Redesign our relationship to natural systems”

Salamander Road of Death in NJ

“Shared Public Memory of a Possible Future”

“Weird Engagement w/ Natural Systems”

The Tree that Owns Itself

Trees as Landlords: TREExOFFICE

Proposal

I propose to create a group of 3 to 5 giant flowerpots sunk into the ground, the largest of which could be anywhere from 8 to 15 feet in diameter and 2 to 3 feet tall. These would actually be low, circular walls, and the bottom of the pot would be implied. The walls could also function as public seating.

The lawn would continue to be maintained as usual outside of the flowerpots, but the interior space should be left un-maintained, a wild space for the duration of the exhibition. If possible, I would love for some of the pots to contain existing trees or shrubs.

My material would be concrete, and I would stain it to mimic a terracotta color. I would like to add recycled concrete aggregate to my concrete mix to benefit both the environment and my budget. At the close of the exhibition, I will bring these forms to a local recycling facility to be turned back into aggregate for reuse.

My expenses will include concrete, recycled concrete aggregate, stain, plywood for building forms, and transportation of materials. This would be a relatively affordable project using humble materials, and I’m sure I could realize it within the allotted budget.

These whimsical sculptures invert what normally happens in flowerpots: here, domestication happens on the outside of the pot while attention and maintenance are withheld from the interior area, allowing additional plant species to take root and reveal their potential. These discrete islands of wilderness will take shape over time and the seasons, recalling Alan’s Sonfist’s Time Landscape.

This installation will act as a foil to the domesticated areas of the park, a pocket of wilderness and biodiversity, encouraging viewers to look at the overlooked and to be aware of the complex wilderness growing in the peripheries. It draws attention to what is undervalued from our daily urban environment, how our value systems interact with both humans and non-humans, and, as Gary Snyder wondered, “where do we start to resolve the dichotomy of the civilized and the wild?”

I have been working with weeds over the past year, and I am looking forward to realizing this new idea, which I believe builds on my recent work. I am excited by the economy of this gesture and the way it plays with scale.

#DrewNewGrowth

I deinstalled my sculptures from Drew University a couple of weeks ago. It was wonderful to have these pieces at my alma mater, the University in the Forest! Thanks to Kim Rhodes for coordinating the whole effort and surrounding events (panel, class visits, publications, and this instagram campaign!) Thanks to Stephanie in the facilities department and her crew for such a smooth deinstall. Thanks to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for funding the program.

These babies are now tucked in for the winter in my storage shed, although a select few of the evergreen variety may be making an appearance in my home for Christmas.

Herbarium

Here are some snapshots of my project for In-Site, including a few of the installation process. These are all enlarged images of weeds from South Orange, wheatpasted onto nearby buildings. Will be editing documentation soon!

Terrarium

 

I’m going to be doing a public installation in ArtBloc in September. Here’s a description:

I am converting these windowed containers into a giant terrarium, to be filled with weeds collected from Hamilton Park with the help of the Greens Group volunteers. Throughout the two month period, the installation will be constantly changing and growing. It will act as a foil to the domesticated space of the park, a wild place within the city, encouraging viewers to look at the overlooked.

Here are some weeds we collected last Saturday. Stay tuned!