Fallow

description

Instead of displaying a crop of new work, for one exhibition period the space lies fallow. The floor space of the gallery is completely covered with soil and plant matter from nearby vacant land. Plants and seeds in the soil continue to grow over the course of the show, during which time the trade practices and commercial goals usually associated with an exhibition are slowed to processes of waiting and watching. Still, within this environment there may be a multitude of quiet and sensuous details to be observed, as well as wide-ranging opportunities for reflection — for example, upon the functions of productivity, or about the value and relatively endangered nature of open space. The temporary situation might give pause to consider that, like crop rotation, enforced downtime — time outs — may be an important part of a sustainable production cycle. Although withdrawn from "constructive" use, the exhibition space is far from empty, but rather full of richly non-productive time and process.