Landscape Makers Exhibition
LaVerne Krause Gallery, Lawrence Hall, University of Oregon. January 29th to Feb 3rd, 2022.
Collaborators: William Bonner, David Buckley Borden, Ignacio Lopez Buson, Hannah Chapin, Tom Coates, Seth Eddy, Michael Geffel, Abby Pierce, Grant Olson, Kennedy Rauh, Masayo Simon, Nancy Silvers, and Dr. Fred Swanson
TREE GUARD No.01
Tree Guard No. 01 is a provocative pop-dipped reinterpretation of the urban steel tree guard. The modular prototype is inspired by timber-framed barn-building and high-visibility destruction/construction barriers. This dramatic tree guard is intended to capture human attention, land stewards’ imagination, and the value of the potential tree within it. Although the tree guard is displayed in a gallery setting without the central tree, the prototype is being further developed as a series of public landscape installations on contested land under threat of development in Eugene, OR. The Tree Guard No. 01 was created in the spirit of Jack K. Byers’ mantra, “Protect to Study; Study to Protect.”
Full-scale prototype of modular landscape installation element, nominal 4” x 6” timbers, structural screws, primer, acrylic paint, aspirin, and band aids, 7’ x 14’ x 18’, 2022. Collaborators: David Buckley Borden, Nancy Silvers, and Ian Escher Vierck.
Community Wildfire Toolshed
The Community Wildfire Tool Shed was an experimental re-interpretation of a back-country USFS storage shed. The shed presents both traditional tools and speculative design solutions for community firefighting, both past and future. The modular paneled structure was a creative exploration working toward the design and fabrication of a full-scale lookout tower for the Lookout Landscape project with the HJA Andrews Experimental Forest et al.
Vernacular architecture installation, wood, marine-grade canvas, hardware, and miscellaneous forestry, safety, and firefighting tools, 4’ x 3' x 5’, 2022. Collaborators: William Bonner, David Buckley Borden, Hannah Chapin, Michael Geffel, Kennedy Rauh, Nancy Silvers, and Ian Escher Vierck.
Carbon Storage Shed
The Carbon Storage Woodshed is a modest reminder that wood (both dead and alive) plays a proactive role in the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The shed is also a pointed prompt that calls on the timber industry to play a landscape stewardship role in carbon sequestration of the Pacific Northwest forest ecosystem.
Wood shed installation, cheap lumber, split firewood, haz-mat signs, primer, acrylic paint, and assorted hardware, 44” x 48” x 64”, 2022. Collaborators: David Buckley Borden, Hannah Chapin, Kennedy Rauh, Nancy Silvers, and Ian Escher Vierck.
Carbon Storage Shed
Hybrid landscape “architecture” merging iconic design elements of a backcountry open-door outhouse and vintage PNW wildfire lookout tower. This full-scale prototype was a design opportunity to explore modular structure construction, narrative-driven panel design, kinetic instrumentation, and the material culture and operation of a typical USFS lookout tower. The interactive structure was functional, complete with standard waterless plumbing (Jerry’s five-gallon bucket), fire marshal phone, USGS maps, two iconic lookout tower shutters in the event of inclement weather and other lookout “creature comfort” ephemera.
The Loo with the View: Interior architecture installation, CNC-cut wood panels, marine-grade fabric, upcycled wind gauges, recycled hazardous-material signs, vintage fire warden phone, paint, assorted hardware, and media players with projectors, 11’ x 11.5’ x 11.5’, 2022. Collaborators: William Bonner, David Buckley Borden, Hannah Chapin, Kennedy Rauh, Nancy Silvers, and Ian Escher Vierck.
Carbon Storage Shed
This series of large-format mixed-media barn quilt designs are inspired by regional Pacific Northwest narratives in response to the 2020 wildfire season, noted as one of the most extensive seasons on record. The 44-inch square quilt-block patterns are created from recycled hazardous material signs to communicate community memorial, testament, critique, respect, and celebration of wildfires as an ecological phenomenon. While telling the story of the 2020 fire season, the work addresses larger issues of climate change, human impact, industry, personal experience, community activism, and the future of wildfire response in the PNW forests.
Enviro Barn Quilts: Recycled aluminum hazardous-material signs, primed wood siding, wood glue, and sheet metal screws, 2021-2022. Collaborators: David Buckley Borden, Hannah Chapin, Seth Eddy, Nancy Silvers, and Ian Escher Vierck.
The Landscape Makers exhibition was made possible by generous support from the Fuller Initiative for Productive Landscapes. Many thanks to Fuller Director, Liska Chan, and Fuller Lab Director Michael Geffel for championing the collaborative effort and output.