Critics Page
a collective free association of "A Proverbial Machine in the Garden"
The “machine in the garden” is a cultural symbol embodying the tension between the pastoral ideal and the sweeping transformations wrought by industrialization. In his seminal text, The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America (1964), cultural historian Leo Marx considers that “nature” is often symbolized by a garden in the American mythology, while an invading machine often stands in for “technology.” This metaphor points back to the industrial era in 19th century America and Europe, but is equally useful in describing the increasingly globalized networks of contemporary capitalism.
The sculptural installation and print edition (pictured here) entitled A Proverbial Machine in the Garden address questions of how we consume and perceive the natural world, while also foreshadowing an entropic post-industrial future, in which the machinery that has shaped our world will finally lose all purpose. To participate in a collective free association that will become part of the project’s archive in the Social Ecology exhibition, please follow the instructions below.
- On the tractor diagram in the newspaper are six lines indicating specific elements of the tractor. This phase of the print project involves an unlimited number of participants (“writers”) choosing words to fill in these 6 blank spaces.
- Below is a list of terms that pertain to the "A Proverbial Machine in the Garden" project. These are words commonly associated with themes of the “pastoral” and the industrial era, including some taken directly from Leo Marx’s text. Each participant will choose any combination of words from this list to fill in the six blank lines on the print.
- Using a red correction marker, participants will free associate, using the six blank lines of the diagram to connect each of their chosen words to the most appropriate tractor part. Each print will thus be labeled with a unique combination of terms, and each print will have a different author. Participants will sign or print their names on the lower right hand corner of the diagram, in the area marked "Writer". Later, I will sign my name where it says "Artist" and the prints will be numbered 1 - ∞ in the space marked "DWG NO."
- Participants will then add their contribution to the archive of prints in the display vitrine at the Social Ecologies exhibition, expanding the collective free association of "A Proverbial Machine in the Garden" over the duration of the exhibition.
- Once the exhibition has concluded all prints will be documented and added to a public online database.
Lexicon:
Abrasive |
Granite |
Reside |
Contributor
David Brooks
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