Series Title: Barrier Islands Drama: The Mangrove and the Pine
Timeframe: 1982 to 1985
Exhibitions:
Timeframe: 1982 to 1985
Exhibitions:
- 1982, Common Ground: Five Artists in the Florida Landscape, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL ( + catalogue by Michael Auping, independently confirmed first published January 1, 1982)
- 1983, Wenger Gallery, San Diego, CA
- 1983 Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC
- 1985 18th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil
In 1982, Michael Auping called from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of
Art in Sarasota, Florida. He had in mind an exhibition to be called Common
Ground: Five Artists in the Florida Landscape. The artists were Hamish Fulton,
Alan Sonfist, Michael Singer, and us; there would be a catalogue. He said there
was funding and asked if we would do a work for the exhibition. We told him
we would come there, do research, talk to different people, especially politi-
cians and ecologists. We also made it clear that the object of this activity was to
enable us to come to grips with the environment and to be networked into the
community. We offered no guarantee to do a work, but if a work did emerge,
which we thought likely, we would certainly do a piece, probably an installa-
tion, for the exhibition. Moreover, the company was interesting.
Exploring the environment in Sarasota, we became intensely aware of the pres-
ence of the Gulf of Mexico. There were long sandy beaches and sea walls. There
were the Barrier Islands, like Longboat Key and Sanibel Island. The function of
the Barrier Islands was to be barriers to currents and tides, which seemed obvi-
ous. We were told that at one time the mangrove swamps were everywhere,
but many of them had been drained and those remaining were endangered.
Walking the mangrove swamps it was difficult navigating the roots. We noticed a
strange kind of pine-like tree that mingled with the mangroves, reaching the wa-
ter’s edge. We went out in a boat and it appeared that wherever this type of pine
tree reached the water’s edge, after displacing the mangroves, it fell over in the
wind. Its shallow roots made a pinwheel shape. The falling-over topsy-turviness of
this process made a hole in the wall of mangroves. It was not a pretty sight. We
were looking at a very slowly enacted drama whose subject matter was loss.
On investigating this pine tree, we found it to be a shallow-rooted Australian
exotic called Casuarina, brought over to beautify the landscape about 80 years
ago. This tree, commonly known as the Australian pine, did not have any friends
in the Florida ecosystem. It could not find a niche. This pine tree didn’t have any
enemies either, so there was nothing to stop it. Its only limitation was coming to
the ocean’s edge where, being unable to withstand the wind, it fell over.
Mangroves, being ancient native citizens of the area, had remarkable prop-
erties. Their roots actually extended deep into the ground, holding back the
ocean, holding back the waters of the bay, and acting as a nursery for oceanic
creatures and bird life. So while inconvenient for economically minded devel-
opment, the mangrove swamps were very convenient for everything that was
not development. Helen photographed the water’s edge from a boat with her
Mamiya, and we did a work entitled The Mangrove and the Pine, subtitled,
You Can Never Tell When an Aesthetic Decision Will Ruin the Landscape.
The Mangrove and the Pine
The native mangrove commands the beach
Extending the edge
Increasing the habitat thereby
Take Longboat Key, for instance
Where
That pushy shallowrooted immigrant
That exotic graceful pine from Australia
Colonizes behind that manyrooted earthholding mangrove
Colonizes behind the oceanic nursery of mangrove roots
When
Displacing the mangrove
Gaining water’s edge
It topples in the wind
An eight foot by 60 foot mural in many parts.
It is a commentary on ecological colonization, using as the intruder a Casuarina, a pine-like tree from Australia, that imported to Florida for landscape use, grew like a weed, colonizing the landscape and almost destroying the native habitats, including the mangrove swamps. It was the first artwork to deal with ecological colonization.
It is a commentary on ecological colonization, using as the intruder a Casuarina, a pine-like tree from Australia, that imported to Florida for landscape use, grew like a weed, colonizing the landscape and almost destroying the native habitats, including the mangrove swamps. It was the first artwork to deal with ecological colonization.
A sketch is included in the exhibition catalogue. Parts are included in the exhibition catalogs “Artistic Collaboration in the 20th Century” by the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington and “Generation of Mentors” published by the Women’s Museum in Washington, D.C.
