+Installation shot of natural Forms at Neutral Ground, curated by John G. Hampton, 2010 In natural Forms, five contemporary Canadian artists produced works that investigated our relationship with nature through representation. Through aesthetics and ethics, lawn care and environmentalism, oil drilling and tree planting, or painting and writing; western culture has continually attempted to manufacture an authentic natural. The artists in natural Forms do not merely imitate nature, nor do they attempt solely to influence how we reconstruct nature through their representations; instead they critically investigate how our ever-changing societal ideals alter nature and our relationship with the “natural world.” 

Installation shot of natural Forms at Neutral Ground, curated by John G. Hampton, 2010

In natural Forms, five contemporary Canadian artists produced works that investigated our relationship with nature through representation. Through aesthetics and ethics, lawn care and environmentalism, oil drilling and tree planting, or painting and writing; western culture has continually attempted to manufacture an authentic natural. The artists in natural Forms do not merely imitate nature, nor do they attempt solely to influence how we reconstruct nature through their representations; instead they critically investigate how our ever-changing societal ideals alter nature and our relationship with the “natural world.” 

+Kentucky Perfect - Robert Hengeveld, 2010 Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground, Kentucky Perfect mechanically cares for one strip of lawn, providing it with periodic watering, mowing and artificial light to maintain it as the textbook perfect lawn.

Kentucky Perfect - Robert Hengeveld, 2010

Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground, Kentucky Perfect mechanically cares for one strip of lawn, providing it with periodic watering, mowing and artificial light to maintain it as the textbook perfect lawn.

+Untitled Pear Tree of Mandchouria - Jocelyn Philibert, 2006

Untitled Pear Tree of Mandchouria - Jocelyn Philibert, 2006

+Untitled Apricot Tree (North Side) of Siberia - Jocelyn Philibert, 2006 Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground Contemporary Art Forum, Philibert’s trees are composites of roughly one hundred photos taken of trees at night. The trees are scouted in the day time, then are photographed at night—lit only by the camera’s flash—then digitally reconstructed in an attempt to recreate as close an approximation as possible to what the trees looked like during the day.

Untitled Apricot Tree (North Side) of Siberia - Jocelyn Philibert, 2006

Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground Contemporary Art Forum, Philibert’s trees are composites of roughly one hundred photos taken of trees at night. The trees are scouted in the day time, then are photographed at night—lit only by the camera’s flash—then digitally reconstructed in an attempt to recreate as close an approximation as possible to what the trees looked like during the day.

+The Whispering City - Barbara Meneley, 2010

The Whispering City - Barbara Meneley, 2010

+The Whispering City - Barbara Meneley, 2010 Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground, The Whispering City was built using abstracted plans from various “City Beautiful” Proposals. City Beautiful was a utopic city-planning model that was popular at the advent of the twentieth century, it shaped many cities across North America. The Whisperring City was made from cut tissue paper suspended on a mobile, as viewers moved about the room, the air currents they stirred would subtly shift the placement of the tissue towers.

The Whispering City - Barbara Meneley, 2010

Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground, The Whispering City was built using abstracted plans from various “City Beautiful” Proposals. City Beautiful was a utopic city-planning model that was popular at the advent of the twentieth century, it shaped many cities across North America. The Whisperring City was made from cut tissue paper suspended on a mobile, as viewers moved about the room, the air currents they stirred would subtly shift the placement of the tissue towers.

+65-Point Plan for Sustainability - Jeremy Drummond, 2008 Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground Contemporary Art Forum, 65-Point Plan for Susatinability alters publicly available satelite images, isolating communities in suburban areas across the states and provinces of North America and removing all road in or out. The grid is arranged to approximate North American borders.

65-Point Plan for Sustainability - Jeremy Drummond, 2008

Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground Contemporary Art Forum, 65-Point Plan for Susatinability alters publicly available satelite images, isolating communities in suburban areas across the states and provinces of North America and removing all road in or out. The grid is arranged to approximate North American borders.

+Precipice - Crystal Mowry, 2010

Precipice - Crystal Mowry, 2010

+Precipice - Crystal Mowry, 2010 Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground. Precipice is a to-scale reconstruction of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin as described in Walden. The model also takes inspiration from Ted Kaczynski’s famous cabin from which he conducted the attacks which resulted in him becoming known as “The Unabomber.” The projection is a live video feed from within the model.

Precipice - Crystal Mowry, 2010

Exhibited as part of natural Forms at Neutral Ground. Precipice is a to-scale reconstruction of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin as described in Walden. The model also takes inspiration from Ted Kaczynski’s famous cabin from which he conducted the attacks which resulted in him becoming known as “The Unabomber.” The projection is a live video feed from within the model.