Severn jury selected artists have been working the last few weeks to complete proposals for temporary site specific installations on the La Reunion site. Works will be revealed for the first time on
Saturday, February 27 from 2-4pm. After that, the site is open for RSVP only tours on Saturdays at 10am and by appointment. RSVP for normal educational tours at
sarah@LaReunionTX.org and the Feb 27 reception at
makespace2010.eventbrite.com. A $5 contribution is suggested per person to attend and appropriate footwear and clothes are a must!
Brad Ford Smith is one of the artists participating in Make Space : Installation. The photo above is a sneak peak into his work with privet, a highly invasive non-native plant that causes many headaches in North Texas. We connected Brad with a biologist Shreyas Krishnan who had this to say about non-native species in general... Including privet.
"An invasive species of plant often called a weed is usually a non-native species, though it may be that even the local environment parameters and habitat have changed to favor it (the non-native weed or the native species). In general, invasive species are hardy [capable of resisting yet growing and reproducing in extreme conditions of temperature, light, soil quality, water quality and availability etc...], highly prolific, and have aggressive life histories that allow them to out compete native species. Invasive species usually tolerate a wide range of environmental parameters and are often highly adaptable [the same species can be prolific with little or excess or normal soil moisture or quality; or with little or excess sun light]. Invasives usually establish first along the edges of habitats where there is greater erosion, disturbance, sun light, poorer soil, and often less soil moisture. Examples of habitat edges are park or habitat borders, trails, roads, tree fall gaps, agricultural gaps in forests, and other human disturbances. Birds are usually the chief dispersing agent for invasive plants, and large mammals like cattle and humans maintain the high disturbance levels of such habitat edges. Some bird and mammal species usually visit the habitat edges as these spaces have fruiting plants (often times weeds), also for the sunlight, or to rest during daily foraging or migration. The greater the fragmentation of the habitat especially by trails and roads, and the associated human disturbance, and visitation by birds or other large mammals the more widespread and established with the invasive plants be. As a corollary, the extent of invasion of the landscape by an invasive species is and indicator of ecosystem health. Such habitats tend to have lowered biodiversity, and micro-habitat diversity. Not all weeds are invasive in nature."
Boo-hiss, right? The full journey of Brad's work can be
found on his blog. He'll be watching how the privet made sculptures decompose over time and assess whether privet might be a potential structural material. Much live bamboo in other parts of the world.
Artists as creative stewards of the ecosystem. Nice. We like that.