Through a partnership of innovative art organizations and the caretakers of Boston’s largest national park area, the Bumpkin Island Art Encampment created a unique context for artists to utilize the resources of the Boston Harbor Islands in the creation and exhibition of new work. Eight individuals or art collectives received “temporary land grants” to live, work and adapt established process to the restrictions and opportunities of an island habitat. With only the materials they carried on their backs, the “homesteaders” created functioning living spaces, explored and utilized found materials, and collaborated to create work in the relative isolation of the island environment. The resulting encampment, taking place during Labor Day weekend 2007, became a living demonstration of process and collaboration that underscored a need for critical internal and external examination of artistic community in Boston and beyond.
In its pilot year, the 2007 Art Encampment supported 25 artists in eight initial groups in the creation of eleven works of art. Focusing on process not product, the resulting works-in-progress included surprising and witty adaptations to space through sound, sculpture, video and performance. Madhu Kaza, in Islet: (Hospitality), explored notions of home by transforming ivy-strewn stone naval mess hall ruins into a place of welcome and conversation, mediating the fragile boundaries between public and personal space. New media artist Bebe Beard and the AstroDime Transit Authority adapted an initial “Plan A,” a 12' x 14' campsite wireless internet zone to create community among homesteaders, to “Plan B,” a fully functional communications system utilizing empty Heinz baked bean cans and string. Joshua Rosenstock, Jonah Goldstein and Sarah Phillips used the invasive vine species Oriental Bittersweet and shore debris to create the “Bumpkin Bestiary,” a collection of decidedly non-native and feral animal sculptures. Artists convened each evening to prepare food and discuss projects over a beach campfire; conversations included the viability of “earthworks” projects in urban areas, documentation techniques and the possibilities of future collaboration.
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SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 4, 2007 - 07:42:57 PM
BUMPKIN ISLAND ART ENCAMPMENT WORKS INCLUDED:
Kristjan Varnik - Giant Sand Bass - An interactive instrument that transformed the natural resources of Bumpkin island into a huge musical instrument over eight feet tall providing the opportunity for multiple people to play it at once.
Madhu Kaza - Islet: (Hospitality) - An interactive performance that explored how ritual and politeness mediate the fragile boundaries between public and personal space.
Joshua Rosenstock, Sarah Phillips and Jonah Goldstein– Untitled - Visitors were recruited to join scavenging parties and help assemble a bestiary of feral farm animals.
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SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 4, 2007 - 06:56:08 PM
Bebe Beard, John Gayle, Ali Hourounoupolis, Mary Ann Kearns and Sam Smiley - AstroDime Transit Authority- Plan A: a 12' x 14' wireless internet zone assisting the other homesteaders create community. Plan B: to make the connection between the homesteaders using empty B&M or Heinz baked bean cans and string.
Else Eaton, Marybeth Mungovan, Tiffany Dumont, Ryan Riehle, Rory Jackson Untitled - Shells, fossils, rocks, and trash from the island were incorporated into a dwelling/functional community gathering place/performance space with instruments made from found materials.
Jarrod Beck - The Bumpkin Island Water Collective - Building sand canals rather than sand castles, this communal irrigation system featured rainwater collection, natural material filtration, runoff management and desalination.
Alison Wood, Sven Anderson, Dana Moore, Vanessa Wood - Oasis of Conscious Stillness - Within a thatched tipi made of fallen timber, invasive brush species, dried grasses, twisted branches and curling vines, visitors paused and absorbed the natural, historical, social, and artistic energy pervading the island. On Sunday, visitors joined in breathing, movement and meditation practices.
Laurinda Bedingfield, Barbara Cone, Ronnee Yashon, and Enid Kumin - Island Spirits - Creating a focal point for island visitors to honor Bumpkin's past inhabitants and bring them to life through discussion, this installation involved the creation of sculptures and two dimensional paste forms on the ground.
BUMPKIN ISLAND ART ENCAMPMENT was curated by Megan Dickerson (Berwick Research Institute), Carolyn Lewenberg (Island Alliance) and Jed Speare (Studio Soto).
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