Category: LandLab
#StormSnakes – The Experiment Continues
July 30, 2015By Leslie Birch, 2014-2015 LandLab Resident Artist
My LandLab project started with the idea of examining water quality and morphed into understanding and mitigating stormwater run-off, the primary water quality concern facing the Schuylkill Center’s streams. It's been interesting to see the changes along the way, much like a meandering stream. There's been discovery in understanding how storms are affecting the land at the Center, brainstorming around ideas to deter the run-off, and definitely a period of inventing. Last we left off, I had been in discussion with Steve at Stroud Water Research Center about the sensors for my stream monitor.…
Terranean drama
March 12, 2015By LandLab Resident Artist Jake Beckman
Spring is just around the corner and with its arrival comes the fragrant, earthy smells of thawing soil. As my residency investigating the myriad aspects of soil formation at the Schuylkill Center enters its final phases, I ‘m finding myself reflecting on the terranean dramas that will begin unfolding in earnest as the temperatures rise.
The rock cliffs on the southern border of the property will shed their icy tentacles, exposing to sun and rain new fissures pried apart during the winter months. After a long winter of freezing and thawing, boulders will have…
#StormSnakes Update – Wriggling Through Change
December 5, 2014By LandLab Resident Artist Leslie Birch
Right now I've been experiencing some interesting emotional connection to my LandLab project. This may seem odd, as my project is probably the most tech oriented of the bunch! I can only describe it as this feeling of letting go of attached ideas and really just observing and listening, both to nature and the people that know it well. That is different for me, because most of the time my projects are conceived ahead of time so they can be "pitched" to the people that may green-light them. The process for LandLab is very…
Weaving Art into Nature
November 21, 2014By Ezra Tischler, Public Relations and Environmental Art Intern
LandLab resident artists Kaitlin Pomerantz and Zya Levy, of WE THE WEEDS, have been busy collecting invasive plants like oriental bittersweet, mile-a-minute, wisteria, Japanese stiltgrass, and bush honeysuckle at the Schuylkill Center. These gathered vines are then woven together using hand-built looms, creating beautiful tapestries of varying color and texture. Be sure to check out their guest blog post detailing the process and progress of their botanical weaving project.
Zya, taking full advantage of her resident artist title, recently spent some time exploring the Schuylkill Center's property. Her exploration resulted in some impromptu land art capturing…
Botanical Weaving with WE THE WEEDS
October 30, 2014By LandLab Resident Artists Zya Levy and Kaitlin Pomerantz, WE THE WEEDS
For our Landlab Residency project, the process of its creation is of great importance. As we work towards the installation of a large-scale sculpture created from woven plant material in Spring 2015, we invite Schuylkill Center visitors to participate right now in creating the tapestry panels which will comprise it. In this way, the exploration of global plant migration, and the ecological and cultural roles of non-native plants, becomes a hands-on, engaging experience, with a cumulative, archival result. The following photos show some moments in the process-- from the…
Talking with Jake Beckman about LandLab
August 28, 2014 By Guest Contributor Angel R. Graham
I had the pleasure of speaking with LandLab artist Jake Beckman over the telephone recently. Jake explained that he is enjoying being a LandLab artist. His LandLab experience allows him to engage himself more with the outdoors, he says, conning him more deeply to the land.
[pullquote]Science and art are really similar in a lot of ways. You have to imagine the unknown.[/pullquote]A.G: What inspires your indoor/outdoor art pieces?
J.B: I think the thread that ties most of them together is an interest in how things work. What are the processes that cause things to come…
Introducing #StormSnakes – A LandLab Project
August 20, 2014By LandLab Resident Artist Leslie Birch
For my LandLab residency, I’m working on the issue of storm water run-off here at the Center. Part of being a LandLab artist means working to re-mediate a problem using art, which is harder than just creating an installation that provides education. My hope is not only to have an artistic intervention, but also a scientific device to measure the amount of storm water run-off. In the past month, I’ve been in conversation with Sean Duffy, Director of Facilities, and Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art, about how the run-off from surrounding roads and…
Gazing upwards to see backwards: A look at local vines and their origins
July 8, 2014By LandLab Resident Artists WE THE WEEDS, Kaitlin Pomerantz and Zya S. Levy
Look up on any summer day and your eyes are bound to come into contact with climbing, clambering vines. Clinging to treetops and fences, tumbling across buildings, these robust and intrepid climbers adventure always upwards, using structures natural and manmade to achieve great heights and lengths.
On the Schuylkill Center premises alone there are dozens of vine varieties. Natives include moonseed, wild yam, grape, green briar, and poison ivy. Even more abundant are the invasives: oriental bittersweet, mile-a-minute, Japanese honeysuckle, porcelain berry, and wisteria. Where did these…
What’s the bbuzzz?
June 6, 2014By LandLab Resident Artists Maggie Mills, B.H. Mills, and Marguerita Hagan
Colony Collapse Disorder
The LandLab installation by Marguerita Hagan, B.H. Mills, and Maggie Mills addresses colony collapse disorder and the devastating global loss of honeybees. At present in the United States alone, 1/3 of the honeybee population has been lost to this disorder. These mini, mighty pollinators make every third bite of food we take possible. Ironically, it is human behavior that is responsible for the honeybees’ catastrophic disappearance. Our installation provides a chemical free, native pollinator garden for the bee population on the grounds of the Schuylkill Center.…
First Day as a LandLab Resident
May 14, 2014By LandLab Resident Artist Leslie Birch
I’m Leslie Birch, and I’m very curious about Philadelphia’s water. Last Thursday, I felt a bit nervous as I headed my car down the long driveway towards the Schuylkill Center. Having looked at records online for water quality in this watershed, I’ve seen mixed reports. We are located downstream from some heavy-duty coal and energy industries and also share our waters with many manufacturing industries. What hope can there be? Well, after meeting Sean Duffy, Director of Land and Facilities, I was assured there actually is a shining star – apparently the Center has…
