'HOUSE OF LIVING BEINGS'
‘Ecozoic’ exhibition explores our connection to nature through plants, seeds, soil
Art that expresses our intimate relationship with the seeds, plants and soil that support human and other life on this planet will be on display through part of the summer in New Mexico’s State Capitol.
And if you swing by between 4-6 p.m. today, you may even have a chance to contribute to some of it. Sarah Molina will invite visitors to help weave willow branches into an olla, a cooking pot that brings to mind the nourishment we enjoy from plants. Using willows gathered along the Gila River, the activity also will invite public discussion of the proposed damming of that river, one of the few remaining wild, free-flowing rivers in the Southwest, said Bobbe Besold, curator of the exhibition titled “The Ecozoic Era: Plant|Seed|Soil.”
“Ecozoic” can be translated as “house of living beings,” a reminder that, on Earth, “we all share the same house with everybody.” It’s a term that Besold said she prefers to the proposed designation that we are living in the anthropocene epoch, which refers to a time beginning when humans began having a major impact on earth geology and ecosystems. The “anthropocene” term, she said, “doesn’t put any responsibility on us” to reflect on and adjust the human footprint.
Opening activities also will include a seed exchange sponsored by Seed-Broadcast, a project of Jeanette Hart-Mann and Chrissie Orr that includes a truck where they collect and record people’s stories about seeds. Reunity Resources will also be on hand with information about its efforts to turn food waste citywide into compost, along with tips on how you can set up your own compost bin in a backyard, garage or even under your sink, according to Besold. Plants of the Southwest and Newman’s Nursery have donated free seed packets for visitors.
The curator said her inspiration for the exhibition, which will include more than 20 visual artists, performers and poets, came about a year and a half ago. She had done a piece about soil based on her interviews with
farmers, and she began to realize how many artists she knew who were doing interesting work involving seeds and plants.
At the same time, she was thinking about how “a very powerful way to deal with climate change is by carbon sequestering” and a very simple way to keep carbon out of the atmosphere is by composting. “The soil itself is at risk because of the number of chemical inputs in the soil every day ... . Those chemicals slow down and even stop the ability of plants to sequester carbon,” she said.
The artists in the show take different paths and use various mediums to express many of these ideas.
Paintings by three-generational Native American artists Margarete Bagshaw, Helen Hardin and Pablita Velarde express indigenous, earth-based views, Besold said. Ruben Olguin will project video images upon clay vessels he has made, while Matthew ChaseDaniel will show sculptures made from bundles leaves and dried plants. Sabra Moore will bring a giant ear of corn with each kernel made from a squashed can and Nancy Sutor will show photographs of patterns within her compost pile.
Rulan Tangen of Dancing Earth collaborated with video artist Marion Wasserman on a dance video interspersed with quotes related to ecology, while Jade Leyva produced paintings in the style of magical realism with content related to plants and the earth, Besold said.
A curator of several past exhibits at the Capitol, Besold said she happened to call asking for a possible date for the exhibition not long after there was a cancellation, giving her a chance to stage the show sooner than she had anticipated.
“I like working there because a lot of people go there,” she said, giving an estimate of 65,000 people a year who go through the Roundhouse. Some want to visit the Capitol, some want to see the architectural elements or art on permanent display, some come as senior citizen or school groups on tours. “The bonus of doing an exhibit there is that a lot of people see it who would not normally go to an art museum,” she said.