Documenting the art of creating living soil. SOILED — Tighty-Whities 2021

SOILED — Tighty-Whities 2021

Photograph by N. Baker

How do you document art that lives beneath our feet? Creating art beneath the Earth’s surface I am finding new ways to document the work and it's movement. This photograph is the result. Let me explain. To test soil for fungi that recycle wood and live on dead material soil, scientists buried cotton fabric. In Symbiosis, to document the Saprophytic fungi, I planted new, washed men's medium cotton briefs. This photograph demonstrates the results. In 2022 I will recreate the piece and grow the tighty-whities in a vertical column. This change will document that living soil, the diversity of microbes is built from the top down. In contrast, when my father farmed in the 50s and 60s, the farm bureau that advised him told him to invest in a new plow to dig deeper to access the richest soil.

The purpose of my work is to change how we see landscape. It isn’t just about creating beautiful gardens. Landscape can store carbon and soak up rainwater to cool the planet. It is the cheapest and fastest way to get our planet back on track.

Digging up the briefs I immediately knew I had made a mistake. I left them In the garden’s soil too long. Still, I dug them out with tender care. The petroleum-based elastic band was entwined with a plant root. The root took the elastic leg 6” deeper into the earth than I planted it. I left the elastic and the root as I found them. Laid them on a board and took them immediately to Nash’s photography studio to document the work.

First, I delicately untangled the elastic. The cotton had completely decayed. The elastic was not biodegradable.

Seeing that the briefs were still intact minus the cotton and plus the root I started reassembling the briefs and the added appendage.

In art many times you have to listen to the materials.

Artadia 2021 Finalist

In early November I was notified that I was one of 6 artists in the Houston are selected by Artadia’s curators. It is hard to describe the feeling of having my work recognized by such an esteem organization.

See the full article here.

It never hurts to get a Glasstire shout out. In art every moment of support is a BIG moment. Many thanks to Glasstire for acknowledging my efforts and accomplishments.

Symbiosis- scientific research that support the living sculpture.

“All is not doom and gloom, though, according to Dr Rodger. Many plants are long-lived, opening a window of opportunity to restore pollinators before plant extinctions occur from lack of pollinators.”- First global estimate of importance of pollinators for seed production in plants

Symbiosis

4.5 cubic yards of compost ( living organic material), 200 plus Texas Native plants installed to support the return of Houston’s urban wildlife.
Summer 2021

Image by Nash Baker

Symbiosis- invasive species

It gives me confidence in my landscape philosopies when I read research publications that support my observations of “Symbiosis.”

In July, Houston received an extraordinary amount of rain. That is when I discovered an invasion of Fatoua villos. Aware of the harmful effects of invasive species such as kudzu, I panicked. I went into industrial irradiacation gear. After two days of pulling the hairy-plant-beast from the beds, I noticed many of the native plants were suffering from too much water. I also noticed the native plants in the beds that I had not pulled we're not struggling. I stopped the pulling of the species. That is when I adopted a weed or invasive species management philosophy. Now I carefully observe how each species is impacting the naticve plants, the wildlife and the visual impact of the sculpture. Below is an article from Science Daily that supports my observation.

“The paper's implications suggest that faced with declining fisheries, threatened reef ecosystems, and changing climatic and oceanic conditions, the value of ecosystem services provided by some invasive species, e.g., mangroves, may outweigh their negative effects. Therefore, the decision-making process involved in managing some invasive species warrants more careful consideration of both costs and benefits provided to the ecosystem.

"In a static world, invasive species are bad because they disrupt ecosystems," Granek said. "But we're living in a world where the environment is changing. The climate is changing. The oceans are changing. That changes the calculus of how bad some invasive species are to the habitats they've been introduced into."

Carbon by the Yard - a weekly update

Carbon by the Yard

Zoysia Turfgrass relief

35' X 48'

Embedded within the installation Symbiosis, Carbon by the Yard is a temporary, living sculpture in the shape of the Carbon element symbol, C. The work consists of carving a 16 x 14-foot shape into the existing grass, and allowing the Zoysia grass to grow tall around it. A simple gesture, the letter brings attention to the role lawn-grass plays in climate change. In 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that grass uses up about a third of all public water: in the US, this translates to 9 billion gallons of water every day. Our mowers consume 200 million gallons of gas.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that, gas-powered lawn mowers produce 11 times as much pollution as a new car hour for hour. And, manicured lawns provide no livable habitats for pollinators or the other plants and animals necessary to maintain a healthy ecosystem. With Carbon by the Yard, artist-environmentalist Cindee Klement brings attention to the ways in which our daily decisions can help to reduce our carbon footprints. 

Reducing nitrate leaching losses from turfgrass fertilization of residential lawns

The sketch for Lawndale approval

September 23, 2021

I sketched the C into the space with flags. Moving and adjusting them until I had the shape C right and in the right place.

Next I marked the C with a water base paint used to mark fields.

The C marked in water based paint.

October24th- The first cutting.

The yard maintenance company used their regular mower. The CO2, cost, time, and noise pollution of the gass lawn mower was not worth the result.

I was afraid that the following week the lawn maintenance company would not be able to see the relief enough to remow it. I remarked the C with the flags.

The second cutting was rained out.

I will update this blog post through out the process.

October 8th - week three cutting #2

October 18th - Week 4 cutting #3

October 22 - week 5 cutting #4

After 4 cuttings the C is now beginning srand out.

November 1- week 6 cutting #5

November 7- week #7cutting #6

November 12th, week #8 cutting #7

November 19th, week #9 cutting #8

November 26th, week #10 cutting #9

December 3rd, week #11 cutting #10

December 24th, week #14 cutting #13

January 9, week #16 cutting #15

March 30 - this would have been week 29……. Unfortunately, it is not.

I noticed the grass was growing exceptionally slow. Long story short Lawndale’s lawn maintenance company was mowing on a high setting.

I am starting over on counting weeks of emissions saved.

April 10th, week 1, not cutting the yard #1

Spring 2022

August 2022

Symbiosis - where are the birds?

For several weeks I have noticed the neighborhood birds are not stopping into Symbiosis. I have asked the neighbors and they have noticed the birds were absent too. Today an article came out in the Houston chronicle, Songbirds Take a Break.

March 19th - first bird in garden. An Amerucan red robin foraging for insects, bugs, protein or seeds, poking it's beak into the newly installed living compost.

March 31, 2021 robin hunting for grubs as I install the American beautyberry.

April 9, 2021 robin on the oak stump. I installed rotting native tree stumps to give the birds a camouflaged lookout and hideout.

April 9, 2021 dove

May 22, 2021,

blue jay

May 1, 2021 American red robin

June 19, 2021

June 22, 2021

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

The surface material and how it will age/dry is a mystery. The arnature is the same atmature that I have used on all of my life size sculptures. The late Donald Tucker a local faux bois artist taught me this method. On the faux bous furniture, the finish is a concrete composite. On the other life size sculptures I have used concrete and hydro stone.

BROKEN

steel, reinforced concrete, and wire

40" X 29" X 55"

2018

photo by Nash Baker

Sonata in 4D - welded steel, lath, wire and plaster

2018

Photo by Nash Baker

HARVEY HEROES - LIVEstock BRINGING HOME THE BACON

66” X 42” X 60” - welded steel, lath, wire, wire cloth and hydro stone.

2019

Anniversary bench- Welded steel, concrete

2011

Symbiosis- art activism

Can art activate change? It has in the past and global communication is easier than ever. I received the below email from Chris Mc Fraughton of Take Two environmental. :)

Chris was trained at Elain Ingram’s the Soil Food Web. He knows what he is doing.

Symbiosis - Nash Prairie - seed collecting

Mark Morganstern of Morning Star Prairie Plants invited me to join him to collect seeds for Symbiosis at the Nature Concervancy’s Nash Prairie Preserve. “The 400-acre tract is one of the last remaining segments of the Great Coastal Prairie, which once encompassed six million acres between Lafayette, Louisiana and Corpus Christi, Texas. Nash is a pristine piece of prairieland, largely unaltered by man or machine. More than 300 plant species have been documented there, including several rare species and at least one type of grass thought to be extinct in Texas since the 1800s.“

I will plant the seeds in Symbiosis this fall. Next summer I will collect seeds and share them with other properties.

Green tree frog on a Rattlesnake master. The rattlesnake master reportedly supports 250 species of wildlife.

Rattlesnake master seeds

The prairie

Coneflower seeds

Rosinweed Sunflower seeds

Rosinweed sunflower

These are the seeds on the plant

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Today‘s progress may not look like much, however I worked 7 hours. I was focused on filling the tiny spaces in the groin, inside its flanks and rear end. And I was careful not to catch my skin on the sharp edges of the late. It is razor-sharp and requires careful deliberate moves.

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

I attach the lath with airplane safety wire. Think of lath as the skin. Once the armature is covered in lath/skin, I will add the fur/soil/dried native plants.

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Today's work

Yes, I use a sewing tape measure

I worked on his middle

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

A few weeks ago Nash Baker took some in progress shots of my SMH piece. Then I had two weeks of off and on heat exhaustion. It is a rough summer to have an outdoor living sculpture and a piece that requires welding in a space that does not gave AC. I have finally replenished the minerals in my body and I am back to work on my bison. The temperatures are going to be extremely high this week to work outside. :(

Working on Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus in my garage welding studio

Photo by Nash Baker

Symbiosis art activism update - landscape ordinance.

One of my goals as an artist is to inspire city Landscape policy change. Our cities landscape policy evolved before we had the telescopes to understand the living systems below ground. It is Necessary to update these policies that regulate or urban landscapes and utilize the power of out native landscape.

I have made great headways with discussions with city council person Sally Alcorn. She has supported my work and thoughtfully listens to what I am saying. I can see in her face and her actions that applying these regeneration agriculture principles to urban landscapes makes sense to her. She has worked in the city government for many years and understands how the machine works. She does not have landscape policy roots in her background which actually is a good thing, she does not have to unlearn. In the last few weeks, I have facilitated connecting her with two people in the native landscape world.

First Linda Knowles has led the native plant movement in Houston and Texas. She served on the cities committee for designated wildscapes and she has let the Houstin native plant society and is leading the Texas NPS. Linda is a great source of knowledge and will be a great resource for Sallie.

A few weeks ago I emailed Jaime González. Jaime is  Houston Healthy Cities Program Director of The Nature Conservancy Texas Chapter – Houston Office. Jaime is everywhere when it comes to Houston native landscape. Within 5 minutes of emailing him about “Symbiosis” he called me. He wanted to see the work. We met the following day at 8:30 am. It was not too hot yet and we had a great conversation. He was amazed at what a hot bet of wildlife can be revived in the middle of a lifeless concrete urban desert - the museum district. :(. He Specifically, positively commented that I did not leave spaces of dirt separating each plant. I could hear frustration in his voice. It is a social custom to separate species. My goal is to keep the soil covered with a minimum of 1 layer of greenery if not many layers. Hearing him approve was a relief. He also made some plant suggestions for the southwest corner. It was a beautiful corner until the lemon bee balm faded for the season.

Tuesday this week I was able to connect him with Sallie and Hannah Cobb Public Affairs Liaison Office of Council Member Sallie Alcorn City of Houston, At-Large 5. It was a great conversation and I know Jaime will assist Sallie's office with their plans.

Like Jaime, Sallie is a mover- I just received an email from her office that she is meeting with Kelli Ondracek on September 1st to discuss a native landscaping pilot program. A giant leap - this feels good.

can art active change? :) I am trying.

What can changing city landscape policy do? Right now this is how most vacant lots look in houston. This is the vacant lot adjacent to Lawndale. The owner regularly grooms/mows it per city policy.

This vacant lot is actively sequestering carbon and soaking up water cooling the planet. This is responsible urban land management.

In addition it minimizes the need for mowing. I think it would be even better with a surrounding ground cover that did not requiring mowing.

The air pollution from cutting grass for an hour with a gasoline-powered lawn mower is about the same as that from a 100-mile automobile ride, according to a new study from Sweden, which recommends using catalytic converters on mowers.

Symbiosis — The Symmetry of Weeds, Ecosystem Services and Art Activism

In June the Lawndale Art Center opened the Big Show. I was very fortunate that nature was cooperating and Symbiosis was vibrant with both plants, pollinators and insects. The skies were full of dragonflies of every color, there was not a mosquito in sight. The bee balm was a bee crowd-pleaser and the passionflower was crawling in caterpillars. It felt good.

For approximately two weeks after Houston received large amounts of rainfall. Rain or shine I still went every day to observe the landscape, look for signs of new urban wildlife and learn from the work. I saw that a living sculpture is a moving target. During this time period, plenty of volunteer plants appeared, covering the spots of bare earth as nature knows is best. I diligently photographed the volunteer plants and researched them through my National Geographic citizen naturalist iNaturalist app. If they supported wildlife and they were in a location that they were not distracting I left them. If they were visually obtrusive or blocking another plant's growth or light. I pulled them. I winced with each pull, my instinct in regards to healthy soil and natural solutions was to leave them, they are sequestering carbon, any disturbance of soil releases carbon. Weeds have a role in the ecosystem: they establish quickly, protect exposed soil, provide habitat for beneficial organisms. Weeds are a natural response to heal disturbed earth. From an environmental point of view, they are a benefit to the landscape. From an artist's point of view, I love the weeds. They add a variety of line, an unexpected pop of color, movement, rhythm and a variety of patterns. As a sculptor interested in ways I can incorporate time snd movement in my work, I am a fan of weeds they are a design tool.

That said as an earth conservation art activist the purpose of the work is to inspire others to use native plants in urban landscapes. If the weeds turn people off before they learn about the work, the piece as art activism is a failure. Finding the balance, the symmetry with weeds continues to weigh heavily on my mind. I remind myself of the bigger picture—activate change, create a micro-ecosystem that others will be inspired to imitate. I know change can happen at lightning speed when innovation is coupled with imitation.

Phytolacca americana, also known as American pokeweed,

Detail of Phytolacca americana, American pokeweed,

Sesbania is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, and the only genus found in the tribe Sesbanieae. Riverhemp
a nitrogen fixer

“Nitrogen is the element responsible for lush green plant growth, but plants aren't actually able to use the nitrogen gas in Earth's atmosphere. Certain plant species, though, harbor bacteria in their roots that convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form that plants can absorb.“ learn more here.

Aesthetically as an artist this quiet corner of graceful movement is inspiring. The repeated surfboard shaped leaves delicately attached to the slender stem create a stunning rhythm and repeated pattern.

Jacquemontia tamnifolia Hairy cluster vine - insanely cool bloom, complex in its texture, shape, and color palett.

As stunning as this complicated vine’s bloom is I could not find anything about it it online, except it is capable of surviving fires. It does have the physical characteristics that attract bees, blue petals, and exposed stamen. I will take the risk and keep it. With any luck it will support at least one of pollinator species that we do not yet know we have lost. To return what we do not know we have lost is what inspires me to do this work.

I came across an invasive species, Fatoua villosa Hairy Crabweed. see future Symbiosis post

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Progress from the last two days of work.

Sagged bellie and manhood

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Ferlocks, hocks and nape

Right front leg chap and starting to build the neck muscles. The neck muscles are massive.

I build the legs on separate days. Left keg the hock curves up and right keg the Hock curves down. I still need fetlocks. I think bison have two per foot. More research

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Todays work- His right back haunch and leg.

Symbiosis- the tools of my collaborators

In creating a living sculpture, I have to accept change. I can not control the piece nor do I want to. From soil microbes to leaves, petals and butterflies, bees, skippers and caterpillars, I am always looking to the natural processes. I look to see what does the material want to make, what does it need to be. Competition, succession, disturbance, consumption are the sculpting tools of my collaborator, characteristics of the work. I have to let them follow their path to self-design their regenerating community. I bend my creative processes to the design principles developed through the ages on this planet for this place and time. The time is right to change how we landscape. I believe Houston is the right place and Houstonians the right people to plant the seeds.

Competition

Succession

Disturbance

Consumption

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Front legs and right shoulder