Photo courtesy Katie Holten on treemuseum.ning.com
Folks, I cannot tell you how excited I was to discover that a tree museum is opening June 21 along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx! 100 trees along the historic boulevard will each be linked to an audio excerpt (via a number you call on your phone) containing the voice of an individual talking about life in the Bronx.
This public art project was created by Katie Holten to celebrate the centennial of the Concourse, which she realized should incorporate the trees as much as the neighbors. I like that she pointed out that “the Concourse has always been tree-lined, even before it was paved.” in the New York Times article about this piece. Follow the link to the article for sample audio clips.
Urban Plant Research has been planning a ” ’round the block plant walk” through the neighborhood of Open Source Gallery during our upcoming show, and Leslie and I have been discussing whether to incorporate audio vs. visual as a supplement to the walk. I’ve had some ideas floating around in my head of incorporating neighbors’ voices talking about plants in some sort of sound piece, so it was quite significant to me to learn about the talking Tree Museum! We’ll see. Leslie and I are very much looking forward to taking up residence at Open Source in August. We’ll keep you posted with updates.
Meanwhile, here are some other exhibitions that caught my eye while reading the NYC Parks Department’s press release about art in parks this summer:
Julie Farris and Sarah Wayland-Smith, A Clearing in the Streets
May 22 to October 1, 2009
Collect Pond Park, Manhattan
An “urban viewing structure” which will have real plants growing in it (I think) against a “panoramic mural of a vast blue sky.”
John Morton, Central Park Sound Tunnel
June 8 to September 10, 2009
Central Park, Manhattan
A “sonic collage,” installed in a pedestrian tunnel in Central Park, combining manipulated recordings taken in the park over the past year.
Jessica Stockholder, Flooded Chambers Maid
May 1 to August 15, 2009
Madison Square Park, Manhattan
A brightly-colored platform interacts with the park space.
Spencer Finch, The River That Flows Both Ways
through June 2010
The High Line, Manhattan
The piece “will transform an existing series of windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a period of 700 minutes on a single day.” It’s located on the High Line, the “historic elevated rail structure” on the Manhattan’s West side, which apparently, section by section, is becoming a public park!
urban plant research 
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