Echoes of Existence-how to engage the students

I am slowly working to find solutions to the problems that will arise when the students implement the installation.

First, how to get students that are not comfortable with nature to want tobe involved. What will draw them in?

Second, a big problem is how to control a group of college kids in a field and have them complete a detailed installation.

Bloomington is a walking city. Every day as I would walk about town and the campus I worried about how I was going to solve these two problem. And like on most college campuses everyone is in their own audio visual world contained between the ear pieces of a headset. And I was the same. The difference was I still wanted to connect to those passing by me with a “good morning” or hi. I found the IU students were very focused on the sounds in their headsets they did not need to make eye contact or say hello.

In a discussion with an English professor, Shannon Gayk, who also teaches a walking class, I learned that a novel idea for students is silent walking. The idea of walking without a headset without sound — silent.

Thinking of headsets and silent - my mind went straight to silent raves then to a silent installation.

Would the concept of a silent installation draw the students in. Could this commitment to headsets be a possible tool for crowd control during the installation?

I love the idea. But that leads to another hurdle. How do I design a silent installation? What technology makes this possible?

With a quick Google search, I found several companies that provide everything you need for a silent event.

Weingarten Art Group - Reseeding

I am delighted to be included in the spring 2024 exhibition at CityCentre, “Reseeding”, which prompts deep reflection on humanity’s influence on the natural world. The exhibited artwork urges us to envision a utopian future where our impact is positive and mindful choices lead to a harmonious coexistence with nature, inspiring a collective commitment to a sustainable future. The exhibition was thoughtfully curated by Olivia Kimbrell of Weingarten Art Group.

On exhibit until September 2024, the lobbies at CityCentre are open to the public M-F, 8 AM – 6 PM

CityCentre 2 Front – Christian Eckart
CityCentre 2 Back – Cindee Travis Klement
City Centre 3 – Dornith Doherty
CityCentre 4 – Bruna Massadas
CityCentre 5 – Rachel Livedalen

Photography by Nicki Evans

Indiana University artist in residence— conceptualism, the site, archeology and anthropology.

October 11th was the end of the first leg of my residency. The experience truly supports the statement you don’t get what you want but you always get what you need. I did not seek out the residency but I can see how it is helping me take my Social practice to the next level.

It is giving me the opportunity to use; the symbolism of a labyrinth, the regenerative symbol of a bison, the turfgrass of an institute of the US collegic system to change societal habits. These features alone are rare and hard to come by resources.

Exploring the campus and discussing my plans with all who would listen resulted in IU providing me with the opportunity to add a few more layers to the work. Specifically conceptualism, archeology and anthropology.

Conceptualism- The Eskenazie Museum on IU’s campus has one of the three complete collections of Marcell Duchamps readymades. Seeing these pieces of Duchamp the father of conceptualism from the 60!s and 70’s gave me the idea that my work at Indiana would be more impactful if it is conceptual.

As I began to plan the labyrinth design and installation I began to see how beautifully Conceptualism works with Social sculpture. If I create the concept and the design the steps to install it and the students implement my concept and design it becomes theirs. It won’t be my art they assist me with it will be their actions taking meaningful steps.

The last Monday at IU in a meeting discussing the actual installation process with one of the professors and directors of the Hilltop Gardens it was suggested I work with the anthropology department and Archeology departments when I return. Archeologists will be enlightening when it comes to installing the grid. The Anthropology department can help facilitate a possible relationship and sharing of culture between the students of the First Nations and the students who do not have a deep connection to the land. I would like the installation to be a catalyst for the two groups to develop a unified way forward, a new tradition or ceremony that will give them all together a personal connection to the landscape and the biodiversity it will support.

The next step is to get the University wheels to approve a site. To be the most successful the site needs to be a sea of turfgrass, have full sun, be spacious enough to accommodate the 85’ X 54’ bison, and accessible to the students and community.

I am thrilled to announce that in late January 2024, IU selected a sloped plot of The Hilltop Gardens for the installation.

Related blog posts

A labyrinth of what shape? http://www.cindeeklement.com/blog/2023/10/2/what-kind-of-labyrinth-a-seed-a-beautiful-design-a-bison-that-is-the-question

The design

http://www.cindeeklement.com/blog/2023/10/8/the-labyrinth-design-how-will-it-be-installation

From 8” X 10” to 53’ X 85’

http://www.cindeeklement.com/blog/2023/10/7/how-do-you-build-a-labyrinth

Moving Forward

Moving Forward

67” X 15” X 18”

Image by Jake Eshelman

Found object concrete and rebar curbing fragment, rusted steel, bronze, and gold leaf.

Moving Forward consists of two rectangular concrete curb fragments and two cast bronze roots, the latter with gold-leaf patinas. These objects are tethered like irregular beads strung on a wire of rusty rebar falling to the earth.

The fractured concrete and the more extensive root land at the forefront in a forward strutting anthropomorphic structure. Growing behind the long-necked bird-like form, a stem of rebar twice the creature's height reaches for sunlight. The meandering stem is counterbalanced with the smaller root in a lyrical passed sunflower shape.

The weighted composition invites viewers to reimagine the relationship between our engineered landscapes and ecological systems to support wildlife and forge a path toward a regenerative future.

Hats and Storytelling.

Indulging in a morning of thoughtful stitching and reflection. Since my youthful days in the 70s shaping hats at my father's feed and Western Wear store, hats have held a profound meaning for me. They possess a unique ability to tell stories.

Recently, I acquired an extraordinary green hat from the talented artisan Edgar Alvarez at Gran Central Hats. Their craftsmanship captures the essence of customization, allowing ribbons, feathers, and all manner of embellishments to adorn your own hat. I made the decision to handle my own stitching, and I must admit, piercing through the resilient felt material is no easy task.

As I sit here, needle in hand, I find myself musing about the idea of incorporating elements inspired by the prairie grasses and the thriving ecosystem that thrives through the consumption and waste patterns of bison. It's a fascinating, how their actions actually contribute to the renewal of life. For instance, birds benefit from the ecosystem by consuming pests that break down bison dung. These birds utilize bison fur to construct their nests, as the fur provides antiviral properties, fortifying their eggshells. Furthermore, the grasses that flourish due to the bison's eating and waste habits offer nesting materials and shelter from predators.

I am hopeful that when finished this hat will be something more than a mere fashion accessory; it possesses the potential to be a powerful catalyst for conversations, stimulating discussions about our individual roles in the process of regeneration.

To Leave

The ephemeral beauty of nature lies not just in living organisms but also in their inevitable decay.

This morning, while examining “deeper than that” a private living sculpture art installation featuring indigenous plants, I was struck by the fading loveliness of the Rosinweed leaves as they withered. Contemplating the homophones “leaf”, “leave” and “leaves”, I pondered how societies historically understood the ecological value of allowing foliage to persist even after senescence. Is that why we call these objects a verb?

Leaves that have left a plant continue to nourish the soil and its microbial inhabitants even in death. Their decaying forms hold moisture, shade the living organisms in the ground, and provide nutrients as they return to earth, building a balanced ecology that sustains urban landscapes. They are an important material natures uses in its engineering of the water table.

Though a single leaf may seem a small, ephemeral thing, in aggregate and over time, the leaves left behind establish and uphold the very foundations of life.

Their decay is not an end but rather a beginning - a quiet, essential recycling of energy and matter that allows new growth to emerge.

In both the noun and the verb there are layers of beauty, and layers of ecological purpose, in the leaves left to molder where they fall. An ecosystem thrives on this gift of decay, using the ephemeral to fuel the eternal. Such is the profound, poignant cycle that the installation’s Rosinweed specimens, even as they bend and brown, help perpetuate. Out of seeming loss, abundance; out of death, life.

Leave your leaves and be grateful for their beauty as nouns and as verbs.

IU - How do you draw a labyrinth?

During the first week of my residency at IU when I wasn’t exploring the city, University, art, museums, ecology, architecture, and landscapes I was experimenting with labyrinth designs.

Some sketches of three different types of kabyrintgs.

This design starts with a simple cross. I need to keep this simple.

Turning the cross/square labyrinth upside down I decided to attempted a seed labyrinth. I think a design less feminine will be better.

Symbiosis- Goldenrod Winter’s String Section

Goldenrod is more than just a weed- it’s the ethereal string section in natures visual symphony capturing the eye with its undulating dance.

From late summer to early fall, these radiant yellow spikes flourishe in roadside ditches and fields. As winter moves in their color fades to dark shadows against winters gray sky.

The sturdy stalks provide shelter from icy winds so precious birds can rest through cold days ahead as Goldenrods' undulation brings joy throughout all seasons instead!

I'm still struck by goldenrod's graceful dance on even the slightest breeze. It truly is a remarkable sight that gives me much joy throughout all seasons.

Symbiosis — Gerhert Prairie Rescue plants

On October 7th, I was invited to participate in rescuing prairie plants from the Gerhart Prairie south of Houston. The Prairie, I believe, is part of the Texas Nature Conservancy. A manufacturer has a fenced-off area on the property. They will put in a road through the prairie to service the fenced-in operations. We were rescuing the plants in the designated place on the future road. Several Master Naturalists identified plants, as did Mark Morganstern of Morningstar Nursery. Mark kindly reaches out to me when free and needy plants are available.

That Saturday, I received an amazing list of the plants I rescued.

1.)  Helianthus angustifolia  (aka Swamp Sunflower)

            this is the tall 'sunflower' plant with the very narrow leaves that have the edges rolled under.

                (I think I may have inadvertently referred to this as Maximillian Sunflower, which is not what this is)     

 2.)  Baptisia sphaerocarpa  (aka Yellow Wild Indigo or Yellow False Indigo)

            this plant is a small subshrub in the Fabaceae (Pea Family);  it has trifoliate leaves without subending bractlets and it has bright yellow flowers borne on erect inflorescences.  Its fruits are round, hence the Latin name sphaerocarpa which literally means 'round fruit'.  It will bloom in the spring.

3.)   Euthamia leptocephala (aka Bushy Goldentop)

            This plant is in the Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) and is closely related to the goldenrods (Solidago spp.).  Euthamias have round-topped inflorescences rather that the 'open-spray'-shaped inflorescences of the goldenrods.   There are two species of Euthamia in our area -- the other is Euthamnia gymnospermoides (aka Texas Goldentop) -- it have longer and much narrower leaves than does E. leptocephala.

4.)  Croton lindheimeri  (aka Woolly Croton or Lindheimer's Hogwort)

        This plant is a member of the Euphorbiaceae (Spurge Family).  It has very small unisexual flowers surrounding by a yellowish tomentose hairs;  the female flowers are borne near the base of the inflorescence while the male flowers are bunched near the apex of the inflorescence. This seeds of this species are an important food source for quail and dove and the plant is a larval host for several species of butterfly.

5.)  Neptunia pubescens (aka Tropical Puff)

        A member of the Fabaceae (Pea Family) in the Mimosoid clade (or subfamily) which means it does not have typical pea-shaped flowers.  The flowers are bunched onto a round receptacle or head, each with a small inconspicuous corolla, but the numerous long stamens are quite showy.  Neptunia pubescens sprawls along the ground.  It is larval host plant for the ceranus blue (Hemiargus ceranus) butterfly and its seeds are consumed by many wildlife species.

6.)  Lythrum alatum var. lanceolatum (aka Winged Loosestrife)

         This member of the Lythraceae (Loosestrife Family) grows to be about 3-4 ft tall and produces long racemose infloresceces with smallish lavendar (pink,purple) flowers.  It is a special value to native bees and is also used by hummingbirds and butterflies.

7.)  Eupatorium serotinum (aka Late-flowering Boneset)

        A member of the Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) which has rayless sporting only white disc florets.  It is a perennial that emerges early in the year, but does not bloom until August - November. While it's flowers are small there are many of them, so that the plant is a real show-stopper in the fall.  It is of special value to native bees and its nectar attracts butterflies and many other insect species and it seeds are eaten by many bird species.     The plants you dug up were fairly small (maybe due to the drought this year;  the species usually grows 4-5+ feet tall.

8.)  Agalinis heterophylla (aka Prairie Agalinis, Prairie Geradia, False Foxglove)

    This is a member of the Boraginaceae (Borage or Broomrape Family).  There are several species found locally, but the most common is Agalinis heterophylla, easily distinguished by its deeply lobed calyx.   It is a larval host for the Buckeye butterfly and attracts numerous insect species, including bees and bumblebees.

9.)  Ludwigia octovalvis  (aka Mexican Primrose Willow)

        A member of the Onograceae (Evening Primrose Family), this plant likes its feet wet, so a low spot that collects water is a great place to plant it.  It is fast growing and reseeds readily. It is a nectar source for butterflies and other insects and is a larval host for the water primrose hornworm moth (now there's a mouthful!).   

10.)  Conoclinium coelestinum  (aka Blue Mist Flower)

        Another member of the Asteraceae whose flowerhead do not have ray florets, but the long stigmas of the disc florets make for a showy flowerhead nonetheless.  This species is NOT an annual (as I misinformed you yesterday, sometimes things stick erroneously in your mind), but rather a perennial that dies back to the ground each year and also spreads readily by seed.   It attracts many late-season butterflies.  It can be a bit 'bossy' as Mary Spolyar put it, but as I have found with vigorous natives a bit of pruning/thinning doesn't hurt them in the least. 

I look forward to watching them thrive in Symbiosis.

The rescues

Symbiosis Celebration — Social Sculpture

Symbiosis Celebration

Social Sculpture

Proposal

By

Cindee Travis Klement

Proposed to Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs June 8, 2022

Fall color tourism contributes $1 billion per year to North Carolina. Houston has Fall color migration,

we can cultivate it into tourism and build soil health. 

—from Chemical Plants to Native Plants—

Native Wildflowers, Food, Art and Music Festival

“If you dig deep and keep peeling the onion, artists and freelance writers are the leaders in society - the people who start to get new ideas out.” — Allan Savory 

In April 2021, I installed the first native plants into Lawndale's sculpture garden. Within two months, Symbiosis exploded with bountiful native blooms. Plants expected by the Ladybird Wildflower website to be one to three feet tall in Symbiosis were instead two to four feet tall. In June, the endangered native bees started returning. In the first twelve months, I have witnessed seventy new species in the space: from bird nest fungus to Red Admirals, Monarchs and skippers, skimmers, one of the bumblebees listed as endangered, Bombus pensylvanicus, treefrogs, toads and birds.

Since Hurricane Harvey, harnessing the power of public opinion to mutualistically build Houston's landscapes into healthy ecosystems has been the focus of my art practice.

In our web meeting, I explained that in my artwork, Symbiosis, sponsored by the City's Initiative Grant at the Lawndale Art Center, I integrate holistic, regenerative biological systems into an urban landscape. I was inspired to create Symbiosis because I have read that our cities are fast-forwarding evolution. If this is true, integrating holistic, regenerative biological systems into urban landscapes will fast-forward ecological recovery. In Symbiosis, I use systems thinking to find a balance between humanity and Houston's wildlife; already, since the installation began in 2021, we are seeing a return of the lower food chain, which is critical for supporting birds and other wildlife that control the insects harmful to humans.

In the systems thinking state of mind, I also realize that profit is the fuel that will change society's landscape practices to embrace the planet's ecological systems in Houston. Applying economics and industrial concepts to the work, I propose that ecotourism is an untapped resource that can strengthen our environmental and economic health. I am writing to you with a proposal to start a wildflower festival, a Symbiosis Celebration, that ultimately encourages and celebrates new mutualistic relationships between Houstonians and the planet. Through fostering symbiotic relationships that regenerate Houston's micro-ecosystems, we will move our reputation from Chemical Plants to Native Plants — we can prosper as the Green Energy City.

STIMULUS

18” X 4.5” X 10”

$1500 in large bills and passed butterflies.

Building Mutual Symbiotic Relationships to Power Ecological Recovery

I envision this festival cultivating relationships among the City of Houston, local property owners, Houston's indigenous landscape and its wildlife, soil and climate, food, restaurant, music, visual and performing arts, museums and professional sports team communities.

 The following steps will contribute to building these relationships:

·      The business and private property owners will need to redirect their existing landscape budgets to native plants that support our wildlife.

·      These new landscape practice guidelines will align with the Mayor's Office of Sustainability and Resilience.

·      New native wildflower and grass landscapes will slow rainwater, allowing it to soak in and return to the aquifer to cool the planet while sequestering carbon and storing it in the ground where it is stable, providing food and safe habitats for our indigenous wildlife.

·      The approximately six hundred species of birds, four hundred and thirty species of butterflies, eight hundred species of Texas native bees, one thousand species of moths, eighteen species of dragonflies, thirty species of turtles, including two box turtles, and seventy-two species of amphibians native to Texas will expand their populations in our city.

·      Houston's creatives in the food, restaurant, music, visual and performing arts, museums and professional sports industries will respond to the new mutualistic/symbiotic relationships among Houston's landowners and our unique plant and wildlife in exciting creative ways and performances during the festival.

·      The City of Houston will promote, market, and support the above-described new relationships with its services infrastructure, completing the mutualistic relationship that will support Houston's economy and ecosystems.

Why Houston Can Support Ecotourism

Although Symbiosis taught me the speed with which an urban landscape can transform into a wildlife haven, it was not until I was in Fredericksburg that I realized Houston's ecology is an untapped tourist economy. When you combine Houston's rich soil, high humidity, heat and long growing seasons with the indigenous native plant landscapes supported by Houston's urban irrigated commercial and park landscapes, Houston's native plant wildflower and wildlife tourism can far exceed those of the small towns in Central Texas. Another tremendous asset is Houston's central geographic location in the bird and butterfly migration paths between the North and South American continents and our proximity to the Gulf Coast. Texas has the most butterfly species of any state in the U.S. Houston's inner city is 600 square miles; our "sprawl" is an asset to urban ecotourism.

As additional support that Houston can be an ecotourism powerhouse, I have read that one of New York City's most popular tourist attractions is The High Line's native landscaping. In North Texas, Plano also uses wildflowers and music to attract tourism dollars.

Funding

I see businesses and organizations all over the city which are starting to take advantage of the ecological benefits of native landscapes. Unfortunately, many other property (business and home) owners are unaware of the economic and environmental benefits of native plant landscaping. They spend $50-$100 per hour for weekly maintenance and $4—$12 per square foot for seasonal plantings, while also incurring high water usage and bills. Suppose the City appeals to these businesses and individuals to convert their existing non-ecological landscape budgets to native wildflower and grass landscapes. In that case, the City can promote a native plant/wildflower and wildlife, food, arts and music festival that will symbiotically support native ecological systems. The supporting businesses can profit from the tourism they generate.

When

With Houston projected to double in size by 2050, if we start now, benefits will compound. The timing of the festival should fall during one of the migration periods.

The Texas Can-Do Spirit

Systems thinking to mitigate climate through industry and the arts is a new territory — will Houstonians embrace this new field of thinking? In Texas, that depends on how you ask and present the need. In our recent history, from Katrina to hurricane Harvey, unsolicited Houstonians volunteered to help their neighbors. In 1901, wildcatters discovered Spindletop, drawing people worldwide to build a better life in unknown territory. “Wildcatter” is used to describe one that drills wells in areas not known to be producing fields. The spirit of the wildcatter is deep in our Texas Can-Do Spirit. It is in our nature to embrace a new field of wild.

The Next Step

Recently I went to a free event at the Ion; the people giving the talk are in the business of researching the economics to support new business ideas. They also create "stacks" or PowerPoint presentations to gain financial support for new ideas. Their fee is $6,000. Unfortunately, it is beyond my budget.

Is this sort of analysis provided by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs or another City of Houston office to determine the new cultural or social events that would benefit our city?

The support of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs is critical for social sculpture to transform the city from Chemical Plants to Native plants and earn the title of The Green Energy City.