Project for Westbrook Artist Site (WAS) 2013: Horror Vacui (Nature abhors a vacuum. What do we make of its plenitude?)
Project for Westbrook Artist Site (WAS) 2013:
Horror Vacui (Nature abhors a vacuum. What do we make of its plenitude?)
From the point of view of the metropolis, nature seems to be missing. There is too little green, too few
wild animals, too little bio-diversity. And indeed, in an era of mass extinction and mono-culture much is missing from both the city and the country. The view of nature as what is missing, however, is at odds
with the persistent experience of plenitude in the rural setting. Life is everywhere on the farm: buzzing, feeding, growing, shitting, squawking and dying.
Likewise, rural areas, enjoyed as landscape, seem to defy change and to exist outside of history,
enabling nostalgia and stultifying thought. In Iowa, the landscape can look “empty”, certainly not a place ripe for conceptual discovery, cultural learning or artistic intervention. Horror Vacui draws into question constructions of the rural, by drawing both closer to the concrete specificity of the WAS site in relation to the larger contexts of nature/culture, history, and social and ecological action.
Horror Vacui explores the dynamic fullness of the rural landscape through an interdisciplinary art project, drawing upon the natural sciences, the humanities, visual arts and design. The project vectors are Smooth Brome, Bromus Inermis, a grass that covers the uncultivated fields at WAS, and the population of American Bullfrogs, Rana Catesbeiana, residing in its pond. The Brome grows in dense fields of waving grasses. It volunteers in disturbed ground and once cultivated pastures. The pond, man-made more than thirty years ago for fishing and swimming, was once stocked with bluegill small mouth bass and channel catfish. It is now densely---shockingly---populated with frogs, primarily Bullfrogs. The Brome and the Bullfrog, like so many others species---including us--- , are migrants from elsewhere that have flourished in their new environment and so are perfect symbols of nature’s plenitude in the post-industrial farm: they are at once a sign of the land’s persistent fecundity and an invasion. The grass, imported and cultivated, is now what flourishes in areas left to nature. The frogs are both a wild animal and an escaped food source, a source of delight and a scourge that eats everything in sight. Nature abhors a vacuum. What do we make of its plenitude?
What do we make of its plenitude? Horror Vacui seeks to respond to this question in both of its senses.
1) How do we conceptualize what we find in WAS pond--- in relation to the history of the WAS site, postindustrial landscapes, species migration, cultural lore and sensory experience? And 2) what do we make in material terms in order to fully conceptualize what we find and, in response, to act appropriately, ethically, ecologically, as designers and artists and as human animals.
Kevin Lair and Elizabeth Walden - 2013
Horror Vacui (Nature abhors a vacuum. What do we make of its plenitude?)
From the point of view of the metropolis, nature seems to be missing. There is too little green, too few
wild animals, too little bio-diversity. And indeed, in an era of mass extinction and mono-culture much is missing from both the city and the country. The view of nature as what is missing, however, is at odds
with the persistent experience of plenitude in the rural setting. Life is everywhere on the farm: buzzing, feeding, growing, shitting, squawking and dying.
Likewise, rural areas, enjoyed as landscape, seem to defy change and to exist outside of history,
enabling nostalgia and stultifying thought. In Iowa, the landscape can look “empty”, certainly not a place ripe for conceptual discovery, cultural learning or artistic intervention. Horror Vacui draws into question constructions of the rural, by drawing both closer to the concrete specificity of the WAS site in relation to the larger contexts of nature/culture, history, and social and ecological action.
Horror Vacui explores the dynamic fullness of the rural landscape through an interdisciplinary art project, drawing upon the natural sciences, the humanities, visual arts and design. The project vectors are Smooth Brome, Bromus Inermis, a grass that covers the uncultivated fields at WAS, and the population of American Bullfrogs, Rana Catesbeiana, residing in its pond. The Brome grows in dense fields of waving grasses. It volunteers in disturbed ground and once cultivated pastures. The pond, man-made more than thirty years ago for fishing and swimming, was once stocked with bluegill small mouth bass and channel catfish. It is now densely---shockingly---populated with frogs, primarily Bullfrogs. The Brome and the Bullfrog, like so many others species---including us--- , are migrants from elsewhere that have flourished in their new environment and so are perfect symbols of nature’s plenitude in the post-industrial farm: they are at once a sign of the land’s persistent fecundity and an invasion. The grass, imported and cultivated, is now what flourishes in areas left to nature. The frogs are both a wild animal and an escaped food source, a source of delight and a scourge that eats everything in sight. Nature abhors a vacuum. What do we make of its plenitude?
What do we make of its plenitude? Horror Vacui seeks to respond to this question in both of its senses.
1) How do we conceptualize what we find in WAS pond--- in relation to the history of the WAS site, postindustrial landscapes, species migration, cultural lore and sensory experience? And 2) what do we make in material terms in order to fully conceptualize what we find and, in response, to act appropriately, ethically, ecologically, as designers and artists and as human animals.
Kevin Lair and Elizabeth Walden - 2013
K. Lair. WAS_Pond_Bfrog_S13_101. digital Image, 60"x 18.5" 2013
K. Lair. WAS_Pond_Bfrog_S13_100. digital Image, 52.5" x 18.5" 2013
During the summer of 2013 I spent several weeks observing, photographing, and videotaping American Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) at regular intervals. The bullfrogs were located in two ponds, a well and a small creek crossing. Small bullfrogs or froglets would remain still and could be viewed at close range if approached very slowly. The conditions were typically hot, humid and buggy. In neoprene chest waders (FrogToggs), I would stand or kneel in the pond trying to balance in the mucky, soft ground. Filming was somewhat challenging physically trying simply to protect the equipment and hold still. An internal IU grant application to purchase enhanced equipment tried to address these issues. I did some preliminary water testing to check the extent the ponds may have been influenced by the area agriculture or ecological balance. The water tests revealed a surprisingly normal and healthy water profile. This was contrary to the often repeated narrative that the environments studied have been transformed and damaged despite the appearance of health and productivity.
As I spent time working with the frogs, I increasingly wanted to minimize any disturbance of the environment and the frogs’ discomfort that my actions might produce. My familiar way of working would have utilized the frogs as an “artists’ material”. Therefore, through the simple act of prolonged observation, I began to adjust to a more passive interaction with the frogs. The artist’s desire to shape, create and transform one thing into something else mirrors the common view of the landscape as something that needed to be “improved” from a “raw” resource into something of value. The work of Horror Vacui fundamentally is about putting these perspectives under examination. The critical first step is to disconnect the impulsive desire to take action and “create” and to see the resulting outcomes as positive or even necessary. I am attempting to build a different sensibility that can utilize different kinds of “materials” for artistic expression, insight and creation. This is an on-going process but seems to be emerging from what was once an irrelevant detail overlooked or discarded. For instance, I observed how frogs behaved differently between the two ponds despite being less than a mile away from each other. The images I have focused on taking are ones that simply provide detail and individuality to a seemingly undifferentiated, invasive pest.
- K. Lair, 2013
Tadpole I
“Tadpole I” is part of a series of short digital videos made during the summer of 2013 at WAS. “Tadpole I” is a black and white, single shot perspective of the main pond at WAS. The late afternoon sun is reflected on the surface of the water and the focus is on the foreground between branches of a willow tree. Spherical highlights flashing on the water surface is the only visual action in the film. The highlights are created by the numerous tadpoles breaking the surface. In order to survive, the tadpoles need to periodically breathe air in water with normal levels of oxygen This is the same situation that led us to discover the population growth of the bullfrogs in the pond in 2013. The action is one that is easily overlooked or dismissed on a daily basis but happened to draw just enough attention to create a pivot point and begin a fresh examination of the post-industrial rural environment. This also was a defining moment in the decision to collaborate on the Horror Vacui project as the site elicits rather divergent observations from people with different backgrounds.
“Tadpoles I” shows a scene that might be viewed as “nature” by most viewers. However, the plants, frogs and the pond itself are all things that bear evidence to the impact of human actions. Horror Vacui demands that we create new habits of observation and engagement to develop a more meaningful understanding of post-industrial rural ecology. While some people were concerned about the changes being made to the landscape once “improvements” were made, Aldo Leopold wrote about his deep appreciation for the land in a Sand County Almanac, and his sorrow at what had been lost. “What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered and perhaps not
- K. Lair 2013
“Tadpole I” is part of a series of short digital videos made during the summer of 2013 at WAS. “Tadpole I” is a black and white, single shot perspective of the main pond at WAS. The late afternoon sun is reflected on the surface of the water and the focus is on the foreground between branches of a willow tree. Spherical highlights flashing on the water surface is the only visual action in the film. The highlights are created by the numerous tadpoles breaking the surface. In order to survive, the tadpoles need to periodically breathe air in water with normal levels of oxygen This is the same situation that led us to discover the population growth of the bullfrogs in the pond in 2013. The action is one that is easily overlooked or dismissed on a daily basis but happened to draw just enough attention to create a pivot point and begin a fresh examination of the post-industrial rural environment. This also was a defining moment in the decision to collaborate on the Horror Vacui project as the site elicits rather divergent observations from people with different backgrounds.
“Tadpoles I” shows a scene that might be viewed as “nature” by most viewers. However, the plants, frogs and the pond itself are all things that bear evidence to the impact of human actions. Horror Vacui demands that we create new habits of observation and engagement to develop a more meaningful understanding of post-industrial rural ecology. While some people were concerned about the changes being made to the landscape once “improvements” were made, Aldo Leopold wrote about his deep appreciation for the land in a Sand County Almanac, and his sorrow at what had been lost. “What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered and perhaps not
- K. Lair 2013
Lucilia sericata (maggot) and the Dinner Party
The investigation of Lithobates catesbeianus was created as a “vector” into the post-industrial rural environment and the WAS site. A frog carcass that was being consumed by maggots provided the basis for a series called “Maggots I”. The maggots build on the relationship of consumer and consumed that is a key part of the Lithobates catesbeianus investigation. The role of maggots in the consumption of dead flesh is well known yet not accessible to our experiences. In the right circumstances, there is almost an immediate appearance of new life from the dead. There is a short window of time in which the maggots are thick and frenetic in their feeding. In part of the video the highly decomposed flesh is animated by the pulsating feeding of maggots embedded throughout the carcass. In these cases of the frenetic to the pulsating, the dead and living seem to be particularly close and indistinguishable. We are used to seeing the dead as inanimate and devoid of energy but in more “natural” circumstances life seems to flow freely into new forms. Horror Vacui is about exploring the latent flows, patterns and mechanisms that we overlook, obstruct or deny. If transformation and change are natural states, tension arises in how we might seek to conserve or restore our environments as well as modify, manipulate and exploit them.
The investigation of Lithobates catesbeianus was created as a “vector” into the post-industrial rural environment and the WAS site. A frog carcass that was being consumed by maggots provided the basis for a series called “Maggots I”. The maggots build on the relationship of consumer and consumed that is a key part of the Lithobates catesbeianus investigation. The role of maggots in the consumption of dead flesh is well known yet not accessible to our experiences. In the right circumstances, there is almost an immediate appearance of new life from the dead. There is a short window of time in which the maggots are thick and frenetic in their feeding. In part of the video the highly decomposed flesh is animated by the pulsating feeding of maggots embedded throughout the carcass. In these cases of the frenetic to the pulsating, the dead and living seem to be particularly close and indistinguishable. We are used to seeing the dead as inanimate and devoid of energy but in more “natural” circumstances life seems to flow freely into new forms. Horror Vacui is about exploring the latent flows, patterns and mechanisms that we overlook, obstruct or deny. If transformation and change are natural states, tension arises in how we might seek to conserve or restore our environments as well as modify, manipulate and exploit them.
Malformed Frogs
Malformed frogs were discovered in 1995 by school children on a field trip in Minnesota. Research into occurrences of malformed frogs has continued and been well detailed in numerous publications including, “Malformed Frogs” in 2009 by IUPUI Professor Michael Lannoo. The images collected by Lannoo have provided the model for a series of drawings executed in the Horror Vacui investigation. The various stages of frog development is a sort of microcosm of evolutionary, adaptive changes in which the animal transforms in radical ways not only its appearance but also its habits such as what it eats. The young frogs are even prey for the adult frog. These transformations make visible the natural connections between organisms that are typically latent. The malformations occur for a range of reasons but environmental damage caused by human interventions is one of the primary reasons. I had envisioned drawings of a human/frog synthesis, however, after finding the work on malformed frogs, I shifted the fusion to show idealized humans with the less than ideal frogs. These drawings /studies are drawn on 12 inch squares or “plates”.
Malformed frogs were discovered in 1995 by school children on a field trip in Minnesota. Research into occurrences of malformed frogs has continued and been well detailed in numerous publications including, “Malformed Frogs” in 2009 by IUPUI Professor Michael Lannoo. The images collected by Lannoo have provided the model for a series of drawings executed in the Horror Vacui investigation. The various stages of frog development is a sort of microcosm of evolutionary, adaptive changes in which the animal transforms in radical ways not only its appearance but also its habits such as what it eats. The young frogs are even prey for the adult frog. These transformations make visible the natural connections between organisms that are typically latent. The malformations occur for a range of reasons but environmental damage caused by human interventions is one of the primary reasons. I had envisioned drawings of a human/frog synthesis, however, after finding the work on malformed frogs, I shifted the fusion to show idealized humans with the less than ideal frogs. These drawings /studies are drawn on 12 inch squares or “plates”.
Smooth Brome and the Dinner Party
The pond at WAS where the bullfrogs were discovered is surrounded by a range of vegetation that was originally planted after the pond’s construction or migrated in from the surrounding fields. One of the plants that was noticed due to its common presence throughout WAS is Smooth Brome. A key aspect of Horror Vacui is that from a single vector of the bullfrog a complex web of interdependencies emerged. We strove to trace humble origins that have led to unexpected outcomes, revised histories and confounding interpretations. Smooth Brome has not led to a significant relationship with the bullfrogs but the bullfrogs sparked us to refocus our observations and interpretations of the WAS site. The commonality of the Brome was no longer viewed as a given. The beauty of Smooth Brome is how well it represents our habits to “improve” the landscape and the dilemma we now face as we hope to repair the damage done by what is no longer viewed as an “improvement”. Digital video and photographs of the Smooth Brome and other plants found at WAS are included in the work of Horror Vacui. In part, the inclusion of Smooth Brome in the Dinner Party is based on its role as an import (guest) in North America; however, its removal from the landscape is based primarily on the rationale that it does not provide suitable wildlife habitat (a bad guest). A series of minimal graphic drawings of grasses found at WAS, starting with Smooth Brome, has been initiated. While not verified, it seems that grasses have never been considered as a subject for art.
The pond at WAS where the bullfrogs were discovered is surrounded by a range of vegetation that was originally planted after the pond’s construction or migrated in from the surrounding fields. One of the plants that was noticed due to its common presence throughout WAS is Smooth Brome. A key aspect of Horror Vacui is that from a single vector of the bullfrog a complex web of interdependencies emerged. We strove to trace humble origins that have led to unexpected outcomes, revised histories and confounding interpretations. Smooth Brome has not led to a significant relationship with the bullfrogs but the bullfrogs sparked us to refocus our observations and interpretations of the WAS site. The commonality of the Brome was no longer viewed as a given. The beauty of Smooth Brome is how well it represents our habits to “improve” the landscape and the dilemma we now face as we hope to repair the damage done by what is no longer viewed as an “improvement”. Digital video and photographs of the Smooth Brome and other plants found at WAS are included in the work of Horror Vacui. In part, the inclusion of Smooth Brome in the Dinner Party is based on its role as an import (guest) in North America; however, its removal from the landscape is based primarily on the rationale that it does not provide suitable wildlife habitat (a bad guest). A series of minimal graphic drawings of grasses found at WAS, starting with Smooth Brome, has been initiated. While not verified, it seems that grasses have never been considered as a subject for art.