Tuesday 13 January 2015

Mark Dion: Neukom Vivarium


Neukom Vivarium, 2006  installation by American artist Mark Dion
 60-foot (18 m) western hemlock  that fell outside of Seattle in 1996, acting as a nurse log  within an 80-foot (24 m) greenhouse. It shows the process of decay but also gives nutrients, moss, disease protection, water and sunlight to seedlings. 
 According to the Seattle art museum, which operates the park, the tree "inhabits an art system" consisting of bacteria, fungi, insects and plants.

The artist explains the piece is like taking a dead tree and literally pumping it with a life support.  A kind of  living bio- system for single organisms to bigger animals likes birds and mice. the work is meant to show the diversity and complexity of decay. by having this process brought back into the city he aims to show his appreciation for the process and its function  for discourse. 




http://www.art21.org/texts/mark-dion/interview-mark-dion-neukom-vivarium

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