Ecotones at Arts Afield
In the fall of 2019, we were invited by Arts Afield, a Smith College arts initiative, part of the Center for Environment, Ecological Design, and Sustainability CEEDs to create earth work sculptures at the MacLeish Field Station in Whately, Massachusetts. Ecotones is comprised of two separate temporal art works that will be made with materials harvested from the 190 acres of hilltop forest and are intended to move through state changes as the vagaries of time and weather lay waste to the materials returning the artworks to the land. In this way sculptures collaborate directly with nature, contributing both to their building and their dissolution. They also tell a topographical story of life and death in accelerating cycles that mitigate and sometimes beg for hope in our warming world. Each piece is a reflection of our working in a place for two years, a narrative of data, observations and experiences. When seen together, the artworks offer a conversation between two ecosystems and a phenological study of place and are imbued with a personal understanding of the particularities of MacLeish formed from our interactions with weather, science and the land itself.
In the fall of 2019, we were invited by Arts Afield, a Smith College arts initiative, part of the Center for Environment, Ecological Design, and Sustainability CEEDs to create earth work sculptures at the MacLeish Field Station in Whately, Massachusetts. Ecotones is comprised of two separate temporal art works that will be made with materials harvested from the 190 acres of hilltop forest and are intended to move through state changes as the vagaries of time and weather lay waste to the materials returning the artworks to the land. In this way sculptures collaborate directly with nature, contributing both to their building and their dissolution. They also tell a topographical story of life and death in accelerating cycles that mitigate and sometimes beg for hope in our warming world. Each piece is a reflection of our working in a place for two years, a narrative of data, observations and experiences. When seen together, the artworks offer a conversation between two ecosystems and a phenological study of place and are imbued with a personal understanding of the particularities of MacLeish formed from our interactions with weather, science and the land itself.
Grounding
Grounding is a series of tessellating one to three feet circular vertical elements in varying diameters, constructed of a cob of MacLeish soil, leaf, and plant debris that is allowed to dry over time and decast for installation on the site. In a true collaboration with nature, collection tubes at the installation site - an area where opportunistic black birch have filled in open space created by dying Hemlocks - capture earth, air, water, fire (man made leaf ash) overtime for casting material. In addition we will be harvesting debris directly from the plot site. These composite elements found in situ at MacLeish Field Station form a literal and metaphorical collage of time, interaction with nature, and a meditation on death and dying.
Grounding is a series of tessellating one to three feet circular vertical elements in varying diameters, constructed of a cob of MacLeish soil, leaf, and plant debris that is allowed to dry over time and decast for installation on the site. In a true collaboration with nature, collection tubes at the installation site - an area where opportunistic black birch have filled in open space created by dying Hemlocks - capture earth, air, water, fire (man made leaf ash) overtime for casting material. In addition we will be harvesting debris directly from the plot site. These composite elements found in situ at MacLeish Field Station form a literal and metaphorical collage of time, interaction with nature, and a meditation on death and dying.
The Tell of Grass
Occupying a cured grass field The Tell of Grass is an inquiry into movement, time, and place making. Designed to be fully, partially exposed, or hidden, this installation is an exploration of animal movements and nesting habits expressed in the fluid connection between precision and abstraction while emphasizing the seasonal rhythms of grassland habitats. It is meant to be an experience of the boundaries of space, material, and temporal conditions as well as movement as an outgrowth of landscape conditions in a warming climate. Ultimately, this artwork asks the questions: What are the secrets of this site? What knowledge do the grasses hold? What is lost if they are lost?
Occupying a cured grass field The Tell of Grass is an inquiry into movement, time, and place making. Designed to be fully, partially exposed, or hidden, this installation is an exploration of animal movements and nesting habits expressed in the fluid connection between precision and abstraction while emphasizing the seasonal rhythms of grassland habitats. It is meant to be an experience of the boundaries of space, material, and temporal conditions as well as movement as an outgrowth of landscape conditions in a warming climate. Ultimately, this artwork asks the questions: What are the secrets of this site? What knowledge do the grasses hold? What is lost if they are lost?
Process and Site Photographs
Click through the slide show below to see images of the MacLeish Field Station site. We will keep this area updated with process photographs of our work in the months ahead.
Click through the slide show below to see images of the MacLeish Field Station site. We will keep this area updated with process photographs of our work in the months ahead.
About Arts Afield at MacLeish Field Station
The Center for the Environment (CEEDS) established the Arts Afield program in order to formalize and encourage work in the arts and humanities at the MacLeish Field Station with the goal of investigating and contributing to the development of ecological consciousness. Arts Afield recently joined the national Long Term Ecological Reflections Project (LTERP), a consortium of academic field stations that take a 200-year look at ecological changes on field station grounds. To facilitate this process at MacLeish, they have developed ten reflection plots, each with its own survey marker and GPS coordinates. Each plot was selected for a special characteristic, such as its topography, vista, or cultural history. For more information about CEEDS and the research at MacLeish that has inspired our our work click here.
The Center for the Environment (CEEDS) established the Arts Afield program in order to formalize and encourage work in the arts and humanities at the MacLeish Field Station with the goal of investigating and contributing to the development of ecological consciousness. Arts Afield recently joined the national Long Term Ecological Reflections Project (LTERP), a consortium of academic field stations that take a 200-year look at ecological changes on field station grounds. To facilitate this process at MacLeish, they have developed ten reflection plots, each with its own survey marker and GPS coordinates. Each plot was selected for a special characteristic, such as its topography, vista, or cultural history. For more information about CEEDS and the research at MacLeish that has inspired our our work click here.
