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I began developing a body of work recently on the confluence of art and architecture in our built environment with a public sculpture that will be exhibited in July at Redline’s Sustainabily Park in Denver. I am the recepient of a National Endowment Art Grant and I will be showcasing my piece that addresses issues surrounding finite energy resources and the ethical side of sustainability. I want to develop more projects like this that will specifically engage the public, and perhaps have them become active participants in the production of energy.
These process images are documentation of the installation development. I began with a set of drawings to understand how to correctly and accurately create 3dimensional spiral forms. Using the golden spiral, specifically 5 spirals in one direction, and 8 in the other, (as they are a part of the fibonacci series), I drew out the 2dimensional configuration a few times, finally concluding with a layered drawing that represented "discs" that could be used to create the 3d form. I then plotted this configuration using layers in Illustrator, created templates for the internal structure of each disc, drew out the forms on burlap, and hand sewed them.
The final built piece will be 8'x8'x8' and will be comprised of burlap donated from local coffee roasters, cardboard donated from a local bike shop (Salvagetti), jute and hemp twine. The discs will be stuffed and layered with a compost-like material (made by local Growhaus) high in nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and iron. As the sculpture begins to decompose and the exhibition ends, the urban farmers on-site can utilize the sculpture, and hence the nutrient dense compost substance, to grow food there.
The idea for this piece came from my interest in permaculture. In it's essence, the sculpture embodies some of the principles and elements of permaculture - specifically, the idea of regenerative ecosystems, a cradle-to-cradle scenario, giving back to our natural environment.
Here is some information pertinent to the installation from Adam Brock’s Wild Green Yonder blog. Adam has been an integral part to my process, as he is the permaculture guru of Denver!
