See also- Interview in Poughkeepsie Journal: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/entertainment/2017/01/04/climate-change-exhibit-geo-engineering/96124738/


Geo Lab” is a participatory, collective brainstorming and solution inquiry into ways to lessen the impact of climate change.


I originally began making participatory chalkboard installations as a way to capture the ephemeral nature of discussions. I was attracted to the chalkboard because it is a highly symbolic utilitarian and contemplative object with a history of passing on information from one generation to the next. Drawing and writing on a chalkboard is constantly in flux and invites participation. On another level, the chalkboard represents the concept of emptiness as found in Eastern philosophy, a state of complete receptivity and oneness or non-ego-mind.


I was really inspired by the ingenuity of the participants, they were coming up with several invented fictional contraptions and architectural ideas. One of the most constructive moments was during a mini-workshop I held, where I gave participants a small group of conditions (they were actually data points about the atmosphere of Mars, such as surface temperatures, gravity, etc.), and I had them design and paint their vision of a garden that could endure those conditions. I began ‘Atmosphere Bubble in a Dead Landscape’ along with the other participants at that time. I remember another participant conceptualized an impact crater for protection from the wind. Ideas about functioning in very harsh landscapes could help us find solutions here. Desertification is one of the consequences of global warming, and an exodus from dry, harsh land is a reality we would face. Again, ‘playful survivalism and tinkering’ can be a constructive way to evolve ideas.


I think it’s important that we have a revolution of Mind, Body, and Spirit to save our ecosphere. We should evolve ideas of stewardship, altruism, and interconnectedness. This space is a laboratory to those ends.