Another big day of welding..I added a big 96” circumference chest. Put the entire piece on four dollies and started his hump. Below are a few pics from todays work.
Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus
July 5th.
Attaching the head—
I welded just one connection from the neck to the head. As I assemble other parts of his body I will continue to evaluate the position of the head. I want him to be his reaching to the side searching for the next blades of grass within the reach of his massive head and tongue. With only one weld I can easily cut it off if I decide it is not in the right place or at the right angle. I do enjoy having a bobblehead bison in my garage for a while.
Building the girt—
I happened to have a circular scrap piece of rebar almost the right size. I created it years ago to be a round seat for a faux bois chair that was started and not finished. I turned it into the basis for the bison’s rear hip girth/stomach.
It is a little small, the small size gives me the flexibility to add to it exactly where I want it to protrude. As I get more elements worked out I will make it larger by adding the back hip bones that protrude. t is a lot easier to add pieces as I build him than to cut out pieces.
Endangered knowledge: the Soul of Humus.
SMH fall of 2020 was canceled due to Covid 19 last July of 2020. I put a halt on welding my piece and focused on planning “Symbiosis.” “Symbiosis” is installed the Big Show is opened which provided a tremendous amount of traffic. I will still check on it every day, but I will spend most of my day building my piece for SMH 2021. Today I started where I left off. Below are images from last year's work and blog posts.
My bison will be in motion not standing still.
Endangered knowledge:The Soul of Humus
I dried some cosmos leaves to us as the coat of a sculpture that is in the works - Endangered knowledge: the Soul of Humus. The piece will be in the #sculpturemonthhouston 2021 exhibit. I started the armature during COVID for the SMH 2020 exhibit, which was postponed. The sculpture looks at the ecological history of the coastal prairie. This texture is perfect #cindeeklementart #endangeredknowledge #coastalprairie #tezasart #houstonart #bioart #environmentalart #cosmos #art #sculpture #bison
Spontaneity and art - a good thing, we will see
I started my day at 6:30 am, pasting images of work into a word document for a curator/art consultant. A necessary task that I was thrilled to do- however, mind-numbing, to say the least. By 12:30 crossed eyed I took the dogs on a walk. When I came across this. My mind numbing was instantly healed with inspirational thoughts.
The image above is from last week at Lawndale (a post in am tardy with) My trimmings are wild and unruly. I am using them on social media to make a point - to change how we landscape- to landscape with habitat for wildlife in mind.
My neighbor's bundles of limbs are in sharp contrast to mine. They are an example of how controlling urban green spaces have become, the tidiness that is expected In our yards.
I am so tempted——— Such a great opportunity to turn these found object organic materials, perfectly assembled tied up with yellow cords into gorilla art. The colors will look amazing at Lawndale. It is not part of my work on Symbiosis to install anything I want. 🤔 The entire dog walk I was haunted by the bundles and their yellow cords. I am not comfortable installing gorilla art but I am excited with the idea and I know Lawndale won’t have me arrested like other institutions might if I randomly installed objects in their sculpture garden, right?
I have always challenged myself to take on the art that scares me the most- to embrace the butterflies as my son tells me. You don’t know until you try. - jump
I went to the door, I was hoping no one was home, Abby was a new neighbor and I introduced myself. - she moved in during Covid. We had a nice chat and she welcomed me to take her piles.
This technically is not Lawndale property, the wall is theirs, but the lot is unfortunately not owned by the institution. The lot is vacant. I get all the bundles out so I can pick up load number 2.
Rumblings - work in progress-
Neonicotinoids disturb bumble bee and flies sleep and ability to know when to forage. It is banned in the EU and not in the US. This isn’t enough, these products used in urban gardens harm bees. Articles like these inspire me to plug on.
artist statements are also works in progress
as it sits
RUMBLINGS
Artist statement
A rumbling in the distance is nature's way to alert living creatures to their environment.
Rumblings is a work in progress, a monumental collection of fifty 30" X 44" watercolor monotypes that draw attention to the endangered knowledge of the 20,000 species of wild bees.
In these works, I carefully manipulate watercolor ink, and solvent into a chaos of infinitely miniscule paint particles. The materials are interconnected across the over-size monotypes, paralleling the synergistic, aqueous effects of the untold bee species' magnetic attraction to golden dust and their corresponding fragility due to the applied chemicals that flood residential gardens and industrial agriculture. Closely studying their exceptional ability to buzz and pollinate with their exceptional pollen-adhering bodies, I use abstraction and zoom in to depict the organized mayhem of their movements.
The installation of Rumblings inspires curiosity, alerting all viewers to pay attention, asking them to consider the unintended consequences of their actions in our-interconnected micro ecosystems. It is a resounding call to decrease pesticide usage, provide habitats for nesting, and plant native indigenous plants providing nectar for the bees that are responsible for 70% of the foods we eat.
What I do not know is when and where they will be installed, when that is in the picture I may find ways to connect the pieces visually. That will have an impact on the statement. Until the plant beautiful native plants.
Turning back the evolutionary clock evolution in urban neighborhoods
4" X 13" X 8"
bronze
photo by Nash Baker
The sidewalks in my neighborhood are my nature trail. I walk with my eyes on the prowl for intriguing insects, exoskeletons, insect wings, feathers, dried flowers, twigs, leaves, seeds, and pods — things my children’s eyes taught me to find during our walks together over the years. Since 2013, these biological mementos have found their way into my bronze work in the molds of nests. Each piece is a reflection of that year’s ecology and records the time and movement of environmental restoration.
Initially, I was unaware of the landscape around me, but as my art dove deeper into environmental restoration and Hurricane Harvey changed our city, I realized that my days are, in fact, full of sterile surfaces. With COVID-19 quarantine, children in my neighborhood started venturing outside and looking for things to capture their curiosity. Delighted with their new interest, I realized that the green spaces and puddles children explore now are no longer filled with a diversity of life; the box turtles, bullfrogs, tadpoles, bumblebees, and assortments of flitting insects have evaporated with the spray of insecticides and herbicides in our neighborhoods. The selection is reduced to cicadas, the common beetle, honeybees, a rare native bee, and an abundance of Cuban lizards that dwell in turf grasses, boxwoods, crepe myrtles and oaks. I have awakened to cultural landscape uniformity. COVID has changed how I see the need for perfect lawns; the dirty truth is mosquito home-misting machines, obsessive weed control, artificial turf and a lack of plant diversity have turned urban neighborhoods into manicured monocultures for humans exploring video games. These habitat changes in massive population centers are fast-forwarding evolution: loss of wildlife habitat is one of the biggest threats facing many animal species. This does not have to be—it is a societal choice, the ability to speed up evolution can go both ways. Through my works – Lawndale’s Symbiosis, Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus, Gust, World of Hum, Rumblings and Root to Water—I am committed to creating work that educates and helps communities change how we landscape our cities to include valuing the natural world and turning back evolution.
In Dirt to Soil, Gabe Brown quotes Don Campbell, “If you want to make small changes, change how you do things, if you want to make big changes change how you see.” When I come across intriguing flora or fauna on my urban trail, albeit few and far between, I see them as evidence that can inspire a revolution in the landscape. If they are expired and will not decompose, I collect them. I see these bronze cast nests as urban wildlife fossils—biographies, every year a chapter recording Houston's environmental awakening. As an optimist—environmental—art—activist my work focuses on revealing endangered knowledge to change how we see urban landscapes and activate cooling the planet through our cityscapes. As migratory birds return year after year to build nests and raise their young, I return with optimism in my step. I envision witnessing the return of four hundred plus butterfly species and eight hundred bee species native to Texas. I can see this returned wildlife capturing my future grandkids' imaginations. I will tell them the story of how insects almost disappeared and how every yard is a micro-ecosystem and matters. I imagine their hands building nests with a diversity that I cannot imagine. I hear their voices telling me in one breath about the fuzziest-biggest bee they ever saw, covered in golden dust nesting in a patch of ground beneath the sunflowers not far from the silverleaf nightshade. I see them bringing me a tail-feather from a Red Shoulder Hawk and asking, "what does it hunt" and is it the bird that sounds like the squirrel's screech. After a rain, I see them finding two bullfrogs attached and their tiny ribbons of floating eggs in a pond. I hear them tell me not to touch the caterpillar of the southern flannel moth, and asking me, “how does it sting?”. At the low of evening when dragonflies hover; I will watch as they study the night heron’s quiet solitary stance as it stalks small citizens of the grass, I will smile as they question the raucous warnings of ravens and the scoldings of nut collecting squirrels. I will feel their excitement when neighborhood raccoons appear from storm sewers and scavenge treats from dog bowls and opossums waddle fence lines, searching out grubs and open garage doors. I will follow their eyes when the silent patrol of the lone coyote visits the shadows of our boulevards from their bayou bound dens. I let them sleep outside and hear their heavy eyelids ask, why do the owls ask who? I listen as they wake up to a concert of white-winged doves. I will feel peace when they are wise to nature.
Lawndale Art Center - symbiosis
In a nutshell, this is what I hope to achieve with my site-specific piece, Symbiosis.
Lawndale - Symbiosis - extractive
In Symbiosis I am stretching my practice and creating a living piece of site-specific art activism that will reimagine a 53.5’ X 48’ traditional urban landscape/sculpture garden and answer the question: how do we holistically restore an ecological balance in Houston? Symbiosis is a collaboration with Lawndale Art Center’s community, neighbors, urban wildlife, and the coastal prairies carbon cycle.
The west border of the garden has five 1 1/2 year old Crepe Myrtle’s a tree famous for murder. The murder refers to badly pruning the tree- down to the knuckles. I was not having these Crape Myrtle’s murdered. Today I used a extractive method of sculpting and clipped- nipped - and cut the existing branches. I shaped the branches/armature of the two end trees.
A sculpture garden has the four seasons of the year and a sculpture garden has the additional change of exhibitions. The pedestals from the last exhibit were still in the garden. 🤔perfect way to highlight the beauty in the wild- the imperfect- the not immaculate urban landscape.
FYI- crepe Myrtle’s are not native however they are a cherished gift to the Art Center. As an optimistic art activist I look at the project holistically to include the desires of the Art Centers board.
When I work in wire, or steele if I cut too much I can always weld it back it add more wire they are forgiving materials. When I clip a branch it is gone- no second chance. .
#artactivism #cindeeklementart #symbiosis #lawndaleartcenter #nativeplants #coastalprairie #sculpture
Lawndale symbiosis - milkweed and monarchs
I have read that a few migratory monarchs spend the winter in the Houston area and join a small resident population of monarchs. I have also read that it is essential to choose native milkweed as opposed to tropical. Tropical milkweed—doesn’t die back in the winter as native milkweed does. When a place to lay their eggs year-round is available, many monarchs don’t bother making the trip to Mexico.. I saw this caterpillar on my morning walk. It was seriously munching on the milkweed. Milkweed is the only plant that provides the nourishment that will transform the caterpillar into a monarch butterfly. It is important to plant only none-hybrid native milkweed. Texas milkweed will be included in my 2021 Lawndale Art Center Sculpture garden piece Symbiosis. In Symbiosis, I am stretching my practice and creating a living piece of site-specific art activism that will reimagine a 53.5’ X 48’ traditional urban landscape/sculpture garden and answer the question: how do we holistically restore an ecological balance in Houston? Symbols is a collaboration with Lawndale Art Center’s community, neighbors, urban wildlife, and the coastal prairies' carbon cycle. For more details see this link.
#carboncycle #cindeeklementart #texasart #houstonart #contemporaryart #modernart #caterpillar #monarch #milkweed #nativeplants #migration #energy #movement
#lawndaleartcenter #symbiosis #artactivism
Symbiosis - Living environment affects the microbiota and health of both dogs and their owners
Every morning I start my day reading an email from Sciencedaily.com. I read the environmental and health-related research news, scanning for articles that relate to my environmental/conservation sculptures and monoprints. The article Living environment affects the microbiota and health of both dogs and their owners Is an exciting read for me. My World of Hum kinetic sculpture was inspired by the impact pesticides have on native bee microflora and one aspect of my current work in progress Symbiosis at Lawndale addresses soil microbes in the sculpture garden.
Dogs are a large part of urban living and, surprisingly, at Lawndale Art Center. Every other day I stop by Lawndale to study the garden, looking for any changes in the soil, leaves, vines, pond water, and look and listen for any wildlife. Often I run into neighbors of Lawndale with small dogs that visit the garden. Stephanie, her four-year-old daughter, and King Charles Spaniel also spend time together enjoying the outdoors in the garden. Sometimes on Sundays, I bring my labrador Tobi with me. It is hard to judge the impact of urban landscapes on those who visit these green spaces with their pets. Living soil unquestionably has an impact on our microbiomes and our pets as well as supports urban wildlife. One of the most interesting books on the subject of our microbiome is I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong. Dogs
Basically everything we do impacts our microbiomes. In order to build a healthy immune system a key element in any environment is diversity. My sculpture Symbiosis will be have a positive affect on the microbiota and health of both dogs and their owners who spend time in the garden.
I felt like Sally Fields
I feel like Sally Fields at the end of her A Awards acceptance speech- anyone my ages remembers how funny that was. I always think of Sall F. When I think of being grateful when I get any positive feed back for my art.
This has to be my most liked Instagram post. That should tell me something. I guess I will be officially finding a way to combine Rumblings and the World of Hum. 🤔🤠🐝
ROOT TO WATER
”Root To Water” 24” X 12” X 12” irrigation wheel and root found objects.
“How fleeting are the wishes and efforts of man! how short his time! and consequently how poor will his products be, compared with those accumulated by Nature during whole geological periods.”
—Charles Darwin, Origin of the Species
Root to Water offers hope. The root, placed with the root system up, takes on anthropomorphic characteristics, as the wide spread irrigation wheel’s legs are firmly grounded, the humanized root’s bent over posture and downward pointing arm are alive with discovery, the root’s hair like tendrils are actively rewiring its human anthropomorphic brain. This rewiring is happening across the globe, in the most desolate of landscapes citizen conservationists are studying natural law and finding solutions to their man-made problems.
In Root to Water, the irrigation wheel symbolizes mechanistic systems. The root in its natural state represents ecological systems. With this duo, I propose that modern civilization has reached an advanced stage of industrialization. In order to progress to the next stage of civilization we must heed Darwin’s observation, and answer the question how do we pair mechanical innovation with the systems that have functioned through “whole geological periods.” I placed the root above the wheel supporting Darwin’s view of natural systems superiority to human innovation.
Repurposing two tools from agronomy, Root to Water shifts how we see mechanical systems versus naturally occurring systems. In this sculpture, a modern innovation—a rusting, decorative, human-made irrigation wheel—serves as a pedestal for an organic found object that often goes unseen: a root system. With this pairing, I exhibit man’s historical struggle to transition to an agricultural-based society utilizing human-made innovations that extract natural resources instead of harnessing existing ecological systems that regenerate resources.
Communities across the planet are experiencing extreme cases of natural disasters. Houston has experienced three 500-year floods in three years. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study, proposing options for controlling flood waters costing up to $12 billion. The report does not include conveyance options that are local nature-based cost effective solutions.
A growing number of conservationists are using natural systems, specifically roots, as a tool for water transportation, carbon sequestration and as a means to cool the planet. Meanwhile, industrial agricultural produces products that are depleting the organic matter, releasing carbon from the soil, and contributing to global warming. As evidence consider, “Each 1 percent increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre.” In contrast, industrial methods strip the soil (releasing carbon), use petroleum-based inputs to enrich the soil and kill pests. Root to Water elevates roots as a natural system that transports water, minerals and carbon; stabilizes soil; and is instrumental in cooling Earth’s surface—a live-able solution for global warming.
My research-based art looks at the natural history of living soil and how it can be used to restore natural resources that is not commonly understood. I champion natural solutions to environmental issues with a focus on urban landscapes. Root to Water is part of my Endangered Knowledge work, a body of work in progress.
“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.”
—Bill Mollison
Further Reading
-Judith D. Schwartz, The Reindeer Chronicles, Water in Plain Site, and Cows Will Save the Planet
-Kiss the Ground, Directed by Joshua and Rebecca Tickell, with WoodyHarrelson
-Organic Matter Can Improve Your Soil's Water Holding Capacity
-The Loess Plateau was the, most highly erodible soil on earth”
Talking roots.
How roots talk to each other. My focus is coastal prairie roots, but I expect roots of grass communicate as tree roots communicate. We gave only begun to learn from roots.
SUBTERRANEOUS SECRETS IV
36” X 8” X 8”
bronze
photo by @nashb Baker
Since the beginning of time, the human spirits' imaginations have been magnetically allured beyond the earth's geomagnetic field, inventing robots, orbiters, landers, and rovers to explore outer space, searching for celestial organisms — fruitlessly.
Secretly between 100 million and 500 billion microbes per teaspoon are living a subterranean life underneath our feet. Living soil is the root of our existence; it is essential to life on Earth. For several years, I have researched grass-fed food production, attended soil conferences, and visited regenerative ranches. (my favorite is @roamranch) Research in these fields reveal how to fight desertification and reverse climate change through regenerative agriculture practices. Interestingly, this natural history of living soil, how it evolved with roots, fungus, plants, food, and animals, carbon and their essential roles within microbial communities in human health, is not common knowledge. Subterraneous Secrets excavates this crucial tool in storing carbon. My work finds new ways to reimagine urban landscapes and records natural history to the collective memory so that it will no longer be endangered knowledge #roamranch #cindeeklementart #bioart #conservationart #environmentalart #root #bronze #bronzesculpture #pesticidefree #texasart #texasartist #houstonart #houstonartist #houstonsculpture #nature #naturalsystems
Armadillos and termites
Termites - to quote @gjklement,” termites are the ultimate grazers” last week, after we harvested our turkeys @roamranch, we went on a hike along the pastures to Indian Cave Creek. Along the way, we saw an abundance of armadillos eating termites. This trip was my 6th trip to the ranch and the first time to see any armadillos on the property, much less numerous armadillos or notice any termites. It is a sign the soil is regenerating - it is a good thing. Armadillos play an essential role in the Texas landscape both in agricultural settings and in urban population centers. They eat Termites keeping them in check. The termites are essential in building functioning ecosystems. As an art activist, I want to change the way we see nature. #regenerativeagriculture #regenerativeart #cindeeklementart #bioart #cobservationart #artactivist #texasartist #houstonartist #womansculptor #art #sculpture
Symbiosis building soil life.
How do you build soil health without having the luxury of animal impact. It is one thing to build soil health on a bison farm. The microbes in the the the bison, turkey, pig and chicken dung builds the life in the soil. In the sculpture garden at Lawndale I am going to use LEAF MOLD COMPOST. This product is produced primarily from recycled leaves, with a little grass and horse manure mixed in, a touch of fruits and vegetables. After a long slow compost it will be rich in beneficial microbes. It will help save water and promote healthy soil. I was going to wait until early spring before we replanted the garden. However, Sunday Lawndale is having it's Sunday brunch fund raiser. And this is in the day if Covid 19 so the event is outside. I noticed that the heavy rains of late have compacted several areas in the beds and washed away some soil. It will be an opportunity to to talk about living soil,
I spent time researching different types of compost and mulch. Natures Way Resources compost native plants, is locally owned and located in the Houston area. The owner is a soil scientist. I had a long conversation with him today and he really knows living soil. I can't wait to see life return to the garden.
A prairie rising
Armand Bayou Nature Center
The Armand Vayou Nature Center is a great example of the ecology and restoration of a local coastal tall grass prairie. It is great to see Texans committed to preserving natural systems. With the social unrest, a universal pandemic crippling our economies I can’t help but think about what we can learn from biological systems; the importance of species diversity, the importance of healthy bacteria, the importance of whole organic foods, the importance if finding a balance between humans and wildlife in all spaces including urban population centers. What that looks like is the focus of ny 2021 work.
Happy Soil Day.
Happy National Soil Day. Notice the length of the root system of this turf grass-just a few inches. 👎
🤔
The image I posted is not soil to be celebrated.It is what I call mindless conformity 🤨AND - now for the good news- 🌱☘️🍀☘️🌿
It is an opportunity to help save our planet and that we should celebrate.
Let me explain- this is the typical ground cover that covers 99.99% of the homes in the United States. It is a mono-crop of turfgrass. Monocrops are not healthy for soil. Mother Nature needs diversity to be healthy. To go against nature, homeowners have to apply chemical inputs to keep their monocrop turf grass looking perfect. These fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides kill all the living matter. They also kill our insects and valuable Keystone species.
In contrast, healthy soil, especially on the coastal prairie, is a sponge for soaking up rainwater and keeping our planet cool. Houston was a coastal prairie covered in native grasses that had massive roots systems. Some extended 18’. The coastal prairie has the capability to absorb massive amounts of moisture/water. They also act as a filter to clean the water and retain water. Water held in healthy soil is how the planet cools itself. Healthy soil also sequesters carbon out of the air and puts it back into the soil. The coastal Prairie plays a large role in the global environment. Houstonians have paved, asphalted, and covered in turf grass 600 square miles that makeup Houston. Reimaging urban landscapes is an opportunity to save our planet. Turfgrass covers more acreage in the US than farmed land. 🤠 this is an easy way to comply with mother nature. I am using ny art to find ways to reimagined urban landscapes to work with mother nature Healthy soil= healthy people. Happy soil day. #cindeeklementart #artactivism #bioart #soilart #art #conservationart #soil #regenerativeart.