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The Sanctity of Urban Nature Pervades this Outdoor Group Show

A 30-year anniversary show in Socrates Sculpture Park celebrates the earth, community, and the longevity of bees.
Concave Room for Bees, Meg Webster. All photos courtesy Socrates Sculpture Park

A small grassy alcove in Long Island City, New York, juts into the East River boasting a curious collection of outdoor art installations. The Socrates Sculpture Park, a refurbished industrial waste center, is finishing its thirtieth celebration of its LANDMARK exhibition series. The park’s layout consists of an open-space terrain covered with scrubby, undulating grass and botanical species. Right now, the park boasts the artwork of the eight, LANDMARK artists whose works contribute to the venue’s message as an unhindered creative space priding itself on its community and social activism.

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The minimalist sculptor Meg Webster, sets the stage for the full exhibit with one of her unique “earthworks.” Webster’s Concave Room for Bees is a self-evolving installation that is meant to transform with the changes of the earth. The raised circular mound is created using natural elements, like soil, wires, rocks and over 1,000 pollinating plants. In a description of the ongoing installation, the piece is described as a “physical and symbolic home for New York’s dwindling bee population.”

A common theme of the exhibit is the smart and passionate embrace of nature and the surrounding burrough. Jessica Segall takes the meditation on bees further by contructing a literal home for the insects. Her reclaimed piano turned beehive, Fugue in♭, keeps the original strings of the open-face instrument so that each time an insect interacts with a piano string, a sound is emitted from the installation.

Fugue in♭, Jessica Segall.

Other artists featured in the anniversary showing are Abigail DeVille, Brendan Fernandes, Cary Leibowitz, Casey Tang, Hank Willis Thomas, and ARTPORT_making waves, a collective which curates art focused on climate change.

See a few previews of the group LANDMARK show below, natural glory and all:

LANDMARK, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Socrates Sculpture Park, takes place in Long Island City until Sunday, August 28th. Find more information about the exhibit and how to get there in New York City, here.

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