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Virtual Field: The Seed ProjectPresented by Winkleman Gallery October 25, 2007- November 29, 2007The Winkleman Gallery/Schroeder Romero Project Space is pleased to present “Virtual Field: The Seed Project,” an installation of over 140 photographs by artists from around the world. The Seed Project is a global environmental installation, which began in 2006 by artist and publisher David Walter Cohen. The artist invited other artists and activists to plant wheat grass seeds creating individual art projects from what was grown. The result is a “Virtual Field,” which has continued to grow connecting the planters with one another. Currently the seeds can be purchased in Wholefoods, throughout New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.People have become so disconnected from the natural environment and the natural cosystems which sustains them. The originating artist, David Cohen, believes it is important to promote a cultural shift towards sustainability by spreading the value of growing plants, which are the source of our fuel, fiber and food in our daily lives through creativity. The Seed Project accomplishes this through an interactive art project that’s both a mix of science and art. The Seed Project is intended to address creatively environmental and social problems. It is a bridge between art and the environment as well as a creative cultural reclamation of our stewardship of the earth. The strategy is for individuals planting and re-foresting the earth to fight global warming and to create a global network of concerned citizens and activists. The project fosters the creative act and encourages a widening cultural identification with artists, encompassing all people who have creative power. The Seed Project turns on the basic act of creating, in this case the organic energy of life. The outgrowth will be a heightened awareness of changes in our environment, our participation in power, as well as a growing community of artists, and a more sustainable environment. Art which, addresses and seeks to solve world problems will be created from this new collective. “The Seed Project" conceptually collapses the physical space that separates people in the world to imagine a virtual field growing together, but the motivating goal is a growing community of artists, ideas and resources which will be linked and shared. A seed is a symbol of the incredible power to create and redefine the world that we all have, but are particularly aware of as artists. By defining the act of planting as a creative act the participant becomes an artist in a basic and sustainable way. The medium term goal of this project is for thousands of artists to participate in planting the seeds in creative ways. But the long-term goal is for millions and then billions of people to engage in creative growth and change. We, as a society, need to turn organized creative energy to nurturing our environment because the industrial age we are emerging from has hazardously degraded the one we have. But first we need the structures which support organized energy. Art can serve these needs. ‘Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and condition our lives’- Joseph Beuys. The exhibition also includes other related projects by Aaron Storck, Christopher Kennedy, Gabriela Alva Cal y Mayor, Theresa Valla, and Michele Brody.
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