M for Membrane
Glyndor Gallery at Wave Hill
September 5 - October 18, 2020
In response to the material history and colonial landscape of the Palisades and the Hudson River Valley, M for Membrane forgoes primitive and material accumulation and instead cultivates ephemerality, impermanence, and eventual decay as a viable possibility to restore indigenous land. In the outdoor installation, the fermenter cultivates indigenous leaf mold and propagates billions of microbes by foraging fallen leaves in Wave Hill’s woodlands. The mold feeds on sea salt, sugar, potato, and rice starch to proliferate its numbers. Inspired by JADAM organic farming and embodied ecology, all materials foraged from the land are returned back to the soil as fermented liquid fertilizer, transforming into nutrient-rich humus and supporting the mycorrhizal networks for the plants.
Public Program:
Conversation with Dr. Vanessa Agard-Jones
Exhibition brochure co-produced by Helen Chen & Zoë Schlanger
M for Mitigation, The Offing
Press:
Mold Magazine
The New York Times
Untitled (Incubator #1), 2020. Indigenous microorganism, sugar, glass jars, foam cooler, digital thermometer, stainless steel plaque. 26 x 19 x 39 inches.
Untitled (Incubator #2), 2020. Soil from Wave Hill woodland forest, rice, plexiglass, wood, stainless steel plaque. 44 x 16 x 49 inches .
Untitled (Microscope Slides), 2020. Five microscope glass slides (1. Root bacteria, 2. Lichen, 3. Plasmodesmata, 4. Loose connective tissue, 5. Plant cell), wood. 4 x 4 x 4 inches.
Untitled (Gold Nugget), 2020. Indigenous leaf mold, plexiglass, wood. 4 x 4 x 4 inches.
Image stills from M for Memoir, 2020. Single-channel video. 14:00 minutes.
Untitled (Incubator #3), 2020. Indigenous microorganism, sugar, glass jars, insulation foam, wood, plexiglass, digital thermometer 26 x 16 x 48 inches.
M for Mother, 2020. Reflective tarp, sandbags, stainless steel plaques. Outdoor installation on Abrons Woodland Trail
