Environmental Art New agriART Exhibit

By Staff Writer Marian McLaughlin

Just in time for Earth Week, the Art and Visual Technology Department unveiled their newest exhibit, agriART: Companion Planting for Social and Biological Systems in the Fine Arts Gallery.

Assistant Professor Mark Cooley, who teaches New Media Arts at George Mason University, helped curate the show along with Ryan Griffis, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois.

They have invited artists from all over the country to participate in sharing their art and environmental ideas with our campus.Walking into the gallery, one may feel as if they have stumbled upon a classroom or a science fair.

There are computers set up displaying video footage and images, glass containers showcasing plant drawings, and a small classroom installation with chalkboard drawings explaining food manufacturing processes.

The agriART exhibit combines environmental and agricultural science with educational and inspirational art forms. The main theme in the exhibit revolves around food production and consumption, a theme Cooley says is “timely on an international level as communities across the world are questioning what it means to nourish our bodies and communities in sustainable ways.”

For instance, The Santa Ana River Trail Native Food Project, put together by Lisa Tucker, was developed after she noticed the lack of vegetation along the bike trail.

She was also aware of the amount of homeless people that lived along the river, and thought that if she came up with plans for a native garden, it may not only help the area ecologically, but it may also be able to provide food for people. Tucker provided a pamphlet of recipes from edible plants. There were also samples of candy for the taking.

Right by the display of pictures and information on the project, there were plants in glass specimen containers to show viewers the different kinds of edible plants. On the floor, there was a list of edible deserts as well, and in one corner, there is a handmade tea table displaying hand-grown tea.

The table is made out of an old, wooden window panel, and the chairs were made out of stumps. A small sapling branch rose from the table, holding tea bags from its extremities. The tea bags were also samples for the public. Three large tapestries from the Beehive Collective hung on one portion of the gallery’s wall.

According to their Web site, the posters were created for environmental conferences, such as “Biodevastation, a gathering of the grassroots against the BIO industry.”

The banners are printed on a grayscale and are full of detailed information through captivating imagery and text. Through their art, they bring up issues on brand-scapes, homogenization of cultures and chain stores and how these issues are creating problems in society and the environment.

One of the featured artists, Fritz Haeg, may actually have his ideas exercised at Mason in the near future. His project, “Edible Estates,” is about transforming the land that we have and creating sustainable gardens from it. Through his demonstrations, viewers could see how front lawns turned into ecological gardens that provided food for its attendees.

Students are already getting riled up at the idea of incorporating these kinds of gardens on our campus. There has been talk about creating gardens for ongoing art projects, as well as to grow a local and organic food. There is much to absorb from the agriART show.

“This work is challenging in this context because it requires, in some ways, a new way of critiquing and judging work that is not meant for a private encounter with a personal expression in the autonomous zone of the gallery, but looks outside the private self and the confines of the gallery to connect with communities and public concerns in real space,” said Cooley.

The issues that are brought to light through the exhibit are important, practical and unique at the same time that they are educational, scientific and powerful works of art.