Today I installed a new piece called “Conditions on the Ground” at Proteus Gowanus (opening Saturday). For this group show “Battle Ground” I was invited to create something, inspired by the Battle of Brooklyn (1776) to be placed in this set of drawers/file cabinet from the library of the Brooklyn Museum:
I decided to try to create an archive of conditions on the ground during the Battle of Brooklyn. I’ve loosely categorized the conditions as Wilderness, Cultivation and Weather. As I read about the battle I collected notes of details about the terrain that caught my attention. I typed up some of those details on card catalog cards (remember those?) which will go in the top two card catalog card drawers of the cabinet. Here’s an example:
Each card also refers in some way to another card and another detail about the terrain of the battle. Certain details will be gathered together in some way and presented in one of the drawers of the cabinet. For example the card above is a quote from a Hessian soldier. The beauty of landscape, touchingly, made a deep impression on a soldier about to go to war in it. The Hessians were essentially German mercenaries who fought on the side of the British. In their homeland they were skilled at hunting wild boar in the wilderness. This was valuable asset to the British who were not used to fighting insurgents in the wilderness. New York at that time was a tangle of forested ridges and tidal marshes as well as farms and orchards. All this information contributed to the “Forest Drawer” –a dimly lit drawer populated with pine cones, acorns and wild boars. Brooklyn didn’t have actual wild boars in it’s forest, but it did have revolutionaries.
So far I have installed three drawers: Forest, Wetlands and Watermelon Patch. You can see them starting Saturday. I will continue to install elements based on my research during the duration of the show, through the end of June. You can check back here for more information about the installments. Upcoming drawers will include: Fog, Lightening, Tides, and Peace.
Opening Reception: Saturday April 13. Proteus Gowanus – 543 Union Street Brooklyn (entrance on Nevins). 7pm.
