Geoderm
“The only weapon of
power, its only strategy against this defection, is to reinject the real and
referential everywhere, to persuade us of the reality of the social, of the
gravity of the economy and the finalities of production.”
-Baudrillard
Bear
in mind Baudrillard’s words, as they are as important to understanding this
project as the photos. While art must not (or at least should not) be put in terms of power, Baudrillard’s idea of
defending society from banality and oblivion with reality stands true. The core
of Earth Art stems from attempting to understand reality through our home.
Earth Art is about communing with something greaten that ourselves without a
leap of faith—a God of soil which is easily at hand. By observing and arting the processes, we project our own
human qualities onto the natural world. We, as a people, society, or species,
augment and modify the landscape such that it is made our own. In some cases it
is a matter of power, but power capitalizes art into commodity (perhaps a topic
for another essay). So it stands, Earth Art is a pure type of art that likens
the Earth in our image. We observe our natural decay and death in the liminal
spaces so scrutinized in this course. Like Humanity, Earth Art evolves and adapts
to the cultural climate of the era. We experience trouble in defining Earth Art
as it is not necessarily a style, or even a static method of thought. Earth Art
of a generation reflects that generation’s humanity or culture. So Earth Art
becomes a study of that generation as much as a study of the Earth.
We
infuse our Humanity into works of the earth so that our home’s meaning may be
intelligible. Geodermic is a
representation of this which is clear and lucid. It is a literal infusion of
man and man’s influence to the present environment. While literal, it is not
entirely straightforward and uni-faceted. On the one hand, it can be seen as
man’s interference in natural processes and the after-effects of such
disturbance. It can be seen as man’s planting of ideas into unfamiliar locales
and the end result of such and act. It can be seen as attempting to care for
and fix the Earth, perhaps in a futile effort. None of these are entirely
correct or incorrect, but meaning here is much simpler and more simply derived.
The
gesture of a slight prick and injection of man into the Earth in a scientific
way is the core meaning. This infusion of
humanity to a nonhuman entity hopes to not only make the Earth palpable, but
perhaps make humanity palpable to the Earth. This idea is less literal, since
the Earth is not a sentient being. Rather, it is a hope for the cultures and
denizens of the world to understand a singular and present idea of how land can
be treated. Further, it reflects not an attempt to simulate an impossible (or
at least improbable) connection with
the Earth. Within the sphere of medicine, a transfusion of man to Earth or
Earth to man is not possible—I have no qualms admitted the gesture is symbolic.
Given this, Geoderm is an attempt to
espouse ideas in the form of a simulacrum (imitation). The red-filled syringes
do not literally equate to man’s blood being pushed to the ground; they are a
symbol of man’s attempt and ineptitude at communicating ideas that extend
beyond the rationale mind. That is to say, the arts and music propose transcensions
of individual human limitations by
sharing the experience of another. In terms of Earth Art, this is an
exploration of how human(s) might communicate with bodies bigger, much bigger,
than themselves.
Baudrillard’s
ideas of injecting the real to places wrought with dis-knowledge and callowness
is core to Earth art. Some gestures are massive and extroverted, double minus,
and some art more delicate and introspective, Yucatan mirror displacement.
Unlike other art forms, Earth art’s aim is to extend beyond the presentation of
an idea or scene through another’s lens. Rather, it becomes a reference to a
person’s whole humanity. Anna Mendieta comes very close to this idea, choosing
one element core to her person to explore and put forth. My work, in this
sense, reflects the environment through a sort of duality. On the one hand, the
syringes reflect the medical and research focus that has pervaded my childhood
and is very present in VCU. On the other hand, the red liquid, a blood
simulacrum, references back to primal nature of humanity’s beast-hood; we are,
when it comes down to it, simply rational beasts. Lastly, and perhaps most
relevantly to Earth art, the effect (or lack thereof!) on the environment and
life caused by the injections shows the dominance (or lack thereof!) of man
over Earth. It goes beyond, however, a traditional battle or conflict; it
becomes a study of the relationship and a communion. Infusing humanity over time reflects liminal interaction
and change.
The
issue remaining is a reflection of how these ideas manifest; the theory here is
relatively sound. How can one show through visual art such a concept as injecting reality? It is most nearly a
paradox, as some would quickly argue that creation of art itself lessens the
effective reality to a simulation, or a best a simulacrum.
I contend, based on this idea that my project in many
ways reflects on man’s attempt to live. With varied injections and methods,
both specific and general, we attempt to shift and/or augment our reality. In
the end, we find it inevitable that nature reclaims its matter. The universal
continuum of matter need not be a religious concept, since we are all star stuff. These age-old platitudes mean less in the
theoretical world than they do in the practical world, but they are signposts
and essences of the modern day. 
