Articles: Natural Discourse: A Provocative Exhibit at UC Botanical Garden
[pullquote]”The best an artist can hope to do is to persuade those that have eyes to look also.” – Georges Sand[/pullquote]
The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley (UCBG) holds one of the largest and most diverse plant collections in the United States with an emphasis on those from Mediterranean climates. Sited on 34 acres in beautiful Strawberry Canyon above the main campus, the collection is arranged geographically, mainly featuring plants of documented wild origin.
Like all budget-challenged non-profit institutions, UCBG struggles to fund their work and the ongoing maintenance of the garden. ‘Natural Discourse,’ a collaborative exhibit curated by Mary Anne Friel and myself, grew out of an invitation from Paul Licht, director of UCBG, and Chris Carmichael, director of collections, to use art to attract a new audience to the garden, and re-energize existing supporters.
Bringing sculpture into a botanical garden in an effort to engage the public is not new. But with an idea grounded in “discourse,” our goal for the exhibit goes deeper. Artists, staff, and the public were invited to start a dialogue about the meaning of botanical gardens in general, this collection in particular, and the place of contemporary art in our society.
Early in the project, UCBG staff was brought on board to offer advice and make sure that participating artists were completely clear on the parameters of the exhibit and what we were asking them to do. Above all, we asked that the plant collection be respected. More than respected–we asked the artists to explore the collection, interact with the staff, and create new site-specific work borne of those interactions.
This intersection of garden, science, and art has yielded provocative works of beauty, reflection, intrigue, and humor. The exhibit, in place through January 2013 and open to visitors during regular UCBG hours, has effectively garnered attention beyond the familiar garden/art community. You’re invited to join the discussion.
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Natural Discourse Symposium
Friday, November 9, 2012 9am-4pm
University of California Berkeley Botanical Garden https://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu [/sidebar]
Natural Discourse photo gallery
(Click thumbnail to start the slides, then toggle between shots with onscreen arrows or your keyboard.)
In Mary Anne Friel’s Water Pavilion, 2012, a circular wall built of the same old growth redwood used for the two existing UCBG water tanks creates an evocative space highlighting the monumental forms of the tanks and framing views of the garden, the city, the Golden Gate bridge, and beyond.
Media: repurposed redwood staves, water, existing water tanks, and stone
Photo: Michael Friel
Water Pavilion, 2012, by Mary Anne Friel
Media: repurposed redwood staves, water, existing water tanks, and stone
Photo: Michael Friel
Human: Nature, 2012, a series of poems by Jane Flint are installed by benches in the geographic region of the garden that inspired them.
Photo: Lorene Edwards Forkner
O Music of Eyes, 2012, by Deborah O’Grady, Shirley Watts, and Shane Myrbeck features images, text, and sound in the garden of old roses.
Media: Photography, sounds, and printed silk
Photo: Deborah O’Grady
O Music of Eyes, 2012, by Deborah O’Grady, Shirley Watts, and Shane Myrbeck. A companion installation at the downtown Berkeley BART Station brings a piece of UCBG to the city in a wonderful piece of public art.
Media: Photography, sound, and printed silk
Photo: Deborah O’Grady
Botanica Recognita: Signage to Facilitate a Greeting, 2012, by Denise Newman and Hazel White
Photo: Michael Friel
Botanica Recognita: Signage to Facilitate a Greeting, 2012, by Denise Newman and Hazel White, is a poetic re-interpretation of scientific plant labels.
Photo: Michael Friel
SOL Grotto, 2012, was designed by Ron Rael and Virginia San Fratello, and built by Matarozzi Pelsinger Builders.
Media: 1,368 glass tubes, wood, paint
Photo: Ronald Rael
Sol Grotto is a contemporary take on Thoreau’s cabin made up of a small dark room with a spectacular wall perforated by glass tubes salvaged from the wreckage of the Solyndra Corporation.
Photo: Ronald Rael
Light Portraits, 2012, presents mysterious and intimate portraits of some of UCBG’s spectacular specimens produced by Mitch Maher, armed with a camera and a flashlight.
Media: digitally printed vinyl billboards
Photo: Mitch Maher
Shade, 2012, by Todd Gilen, a vinyl mural on the lathe house, illustrates and explores plants’ relationship with light and shade.
Media: Inkjet print on adhesive-backed plastic
Photo: Todd Gilens
A Delight of Earthly Gardens, 2012, a psychedelic-looking video shot by Matt Suib and Nadia Hironaka using a heat sensing camera, is installed in a vine covered shed.
Media: video installation
Photo: Michael Friel
Gail Wight’s piece, Under the Influence, 2011, contains a series of delicate, burnt vellum drawings inspired by photos from a mid-20th century research project by Dr Peter Witt, of webs built by spiders under the influence of psychotropic drugs. The drawings are installed in the arid house which is home to many spiders and contains some of the plants used to produce the drugs in Witt’s study.
Media: Burned vellum
Photo: Lorene Edwards Forkner
Nami Yamamoto’s poetic, and meticulously hand-net, ‘Fogcatcher,’ installed in a grove of trees illustrates the relationship between redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and fog.
Media: waxed linen and redwood rain gutter, wire, metal poles and hardware.
Photo: Michael Friel
Nami Yamamoto Fog Catcher, 2012
The waxed, red linen thread used for the piece changes dramatically depending on the shifting light; a beautiful example of what happens when art is exposed in an ever-changing outdoor environment.
The installations will remain in place throughout the garden through January 2013
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