Geoderm - Part 1

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.