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Art & Ecology


Art & Ecology:

Perspectives and Issues



Ecological Restoration

Mel Chin, Revival Field

by Don Krug

Mel Chin was born in 1957 and raised in Houston, Texas. In 1975, he studied art at Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. Chin originally began working in sculpture which addressed political and social issues. He became interested in environmental art as his ideas expanded to include a greater consideration for ecological systems and sustainability. Chin's interests include creating work that addresses issues of habitat devastation, restoration, and sustaining the planet's biodiversity.

In Revival Field, (1990-present), Mel Chin deals with issues surrounding land reclamation. He stated,

Conceptually this work is envisioned as a sculpture involving the reduction process, a traditional method when carving wood or stone. Here the material being approached is unseen and the tools will be biochemistry and agriculture. The work, in its most complete incarnation (after the fences are removed and the toxic-laden weeds harvested) will offer minimal visual and formal effects. For a time, an intended invisible aesthetic will exist that can be measured scientifically by the quality of a revitalized earth. Eventually that aesthetic will be revealed in the return of growth to the soil. (p. 111)

This ecological restoration project was supported by the Walker Art Centerin Minneapolis. It was conceived in collaboration with Rufus L. Chaney, senior research scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture. Chin's project attempted to detoxify a 60 square foot section of the Pig's Eye landfill in St. Paul, Minnesota. In Revival Field, Chin expanded on ideas of organic growth and concentrated his art-making around issues involving "green remediation" or the regeneration of biotic and abiotic materials over time in an evolving environment. This particular green remediation project investigated an important new natural method of cleaning up toxic waste.

Chaney and Chin used a special group of plants to extract heavy metals from the landfill's soil through the plants' biomass. They selected six kinds of plants known as hyperaccumulators. Sweet corn (Zea mays) and bladder campion (Silene cucabalis) were two varieties planted with the help of five assistants. Heavy metals such as zinc and cadmium were absorbed through the plant's leaves and roots. During the growth cycle, toxic elements were stored in the plants. Safety precautions were strictly followed in preparing the soil before planting. Prior to the project, the artist and assistants received forty hours of Hazardous Materials Incident Response Training.

Barbara Matilsky (1992) wrote,

The contaminated earth was fenced in with chain link and subdivided by intersecting paths that form an X. The project's boundaries are circumscribed by a square. Chin conceives of these overlays as a target, a metaphorical reference to the works pin-point cleanup. The divisions are also functional, separating different varieties of plants from each other for study. In the circular field the intersecting paths create four fields where six types of plants and two pH and two fertilizer tests can occur in each quadrant. The land area between the square and circle functions as a control plot where plants will be seeded with local grasses.The design for revival field facilitates the chemical analysis of each section. (p. 109-110)

The City of St. Paul's Maintance Department cared for the ecological garden. In autumn of 1991, the plants were harvested, dried, ashed, and analyzed under controlled conditions by Dr. Chaney. He believes the ashing process increases the amount of metal received from the plants to a level of commercial ore. The artist and his collaborators hope that eventually through land restoration projects such as this using green remediation processes, the cost of healing toxic landfills might be recovered from the recycled materials. Plantings are scheduled at Revival Field until the site is detoxified.

Within contemporary ecological art practices, many artistic approaches and attitudes about environmental issues have been used to find solutions to reconnect nature and culture. From this diversity and advocacy, ecological restoration becomes deeply connected to art and education through community involvement. In Museum News Matilsky states that "artists like Mel Chin are expanding the definition of art and forging a new identity for themselves. Traditionally, the process of creating art has been an individualpursuit. By contrast, ecological art is dependent upon an institution--museum, college, gallery, or states arts organization--and is a cooperative effort with the community." (p.148) Art critic Jeffrey Kastner (1991) states, "Chin's relationship to the landscape--his efforts to reshape conceptions of places and events has exceeded the metaphorical. His synthesis of art, history, and science changes not only the viewers' conception of life on earth but ultimately also the earth itself." Mel Chin, through his art, is fostering a new awareness of the importance of bioregions based on healthy, ecologically conscious approaches to living.

Questions

Resources:

Chin, M. (1992). "Zoetermeer, the Netherlands Florida foundation." Artfor a Natural and Artificial Environment.

Henry, G. (1991, Jan/Feb). "Mel Chin: Surveying Heaven and Earth."Sculpture,10.

Kastner, J. (1991, summer). "Mel Chin." Artforum.

Matilsky, B.C. (1992). Fragile Ecologies: Contemporary Artists 'Interpretations and Solutions. New York: Rizzoli.

Matilsky, B.C. (1992, March/April). "Art and Ecology." Museum News.










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