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| Jan/Feb 2009 Artist Feature: Scot Kaplan |
| Slide Text Urban and suburban development, possibly more than any other single cause, has led to the diminishment of the natural environment. This development has altered not only the physical landscape but also our perception and understanding of the environment as it naturally exists. As constructed spaces are developed out of the natural landscape, an aggressive discord inevitably results in the overthrow and eradication of the natural world, in support of the constructed one. This overthrow occurs absolutely, and in concert with vigilant maintenance, all traces of indigenous environments become erased from populated areas. The denizens of these areas however have come to recognize the desirability and even need for “green spaces.” This has in turn led to the creation of new, artificial, “natural green spaces” where naturally occurring indigenous green spaces previously existed. Examples of this obliteration and reconstruction exist as places like Central Park in New York City, and in nearly every suburban front yard. The notion of a park as a “natural” green space was what Baudrillard spoke about in his concept of the second simulacra, whereby the park is a counterfeit of the original landscape that existed in the Central Park space, and to some city denizens the park may verge on the order of the third simulacra, where the simulation replaces the original and begins to constitute the notion of what “actual” green space is. It is through the actions of man that this abatement of nature occurs, and it is actions in-kind that this project utilizes to bring this circumstance to the public consciousness. For the project “Weeding” I have documented is a series of actions where I have reintroduced indigenous plants back into an urban environment. I attempt to place plants and trees in spaces that make their reintroduction aggressive in conspicuous and obtrusive ways. This approach challenges people to be aware of the obliteration of theses natural elements in their highly constructed and controlled environments. Some of these reimpositions are ephemeral, such as placements in intersection cross walks or doorways, some are made more permanent by cutting through the street or side walk, and some are opportunistic, such as planting native plants in roadway potholes, commercial buildings’ planters, or even using non-traditional spaces like street side newspaper distribution boxes (as a window box or green house). These actions reintroduce the otherwise naturally occurring elements into these artificially constructed environments, and challenge established urban norms. It is through these efforts that “Weeding” attempts to confound peoples’ experiences and understanding of the structure of urban existence. |
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| Press: http://www.exitart.org/site/pub/exhibition_programs/SEA/EPA.html |