Vaughn Bell, AIR 2004

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Berwick Research Institute welcomes Vaughn Bell to the Berwick Studios, this year’s first Artist in Research. Vaughn Bell’s work, including sculpture, video, installation and performance, deals with our attentiveness to our environment and awareness of the passage of time, especially in relation to the natural world. For the months of April and May, she will cultivate a biosphere at the Berwick Institute. This miniature landscape will be an island and respite in the urban sea of Boston. In an attempt to transform architecture into a green, living space, the artist will create a shelter to foster conditions for the growth of plants. The microcosmic version of a forest landscape will draw inspiration from natural forms as well as Japanese gardens and horticultural experiments. At the same time, this biosphere will necessitate constant human maintenance and supervision to keep it alive. The project will include the design and creation of this garden/room as well as the on-going performance and documentation of trying to sustain it under harsh and alien conditions. Visitors will be invited to experience the biosphere - a chance to intimately connect with non-human life in the midst of the built environment - and at the same time they will be given the opportunity to help care for the fragile creation.

To see images of the biosphere and read about its growth and decay, please visit www.vaughnbell.net/berwick

Please attend the event on May 28 from 7-9 PM to experience the biosphere! A land grab will take place for you to adopt a portion of the Moss Garden Biosphere and take it home with you. Instructions will be included and adoption forms are available on-site. If you cannot attend the event but would still like to adopt a portion of the biosphere, please contact Vaughn at vaughn@vaughnbell.net.