Living Text Installations
2017 - Ongoing
Living (usually edible) plants, mixed media. Variable dimensions
These projects focus on growing living edible plants in the form of written language. While the installations are inherently sculptural, they contain socially engaging elements as they literally feed viewers, implicating them directly as participants. The plants, language, and the art that they both compose are consumed by the viewer and become one with them both physically and psychologically. As one contemplates this relationship with the other, it is my hope that empathy can be fostered. Indeed, by acknowledging that one’s identity is formed through direct interaction with their surrounding environment and community, one may begin to realize the existence of the self as a collection of experiences and combined realities.
Following the exhibition period, during which participation would be largely observatory, there would be a directly engaging phase. The public will be invited to take part in a shared performative act of harvest, preparation and consumption of the plants in a communal meal. During this time, it is my hope to invite community speakers to discuss the plants and ecologies involved. The final contribution of the project will be the distribution of seeds to participants who wish to bring these plants into their lives at home. In this way, the project is disseminated both literally in the minds, bodies and lives of guests, but conceptually as well.
This project has been supported generously by:
