Finnish Island Planting

Finland Week Three:

The Biomatrix Islands are are primarily an ecological art project. We are aiming for a balance between man and nature, aesthetics and functionality. As an art project it might appear disappointing if the Islands was indistinguishable from the landscape, but we also want them to blend in gracefully with the natural surroundings. One way of highlighting the special beauty of this manmade island will be with the plants. The plants that currently grow around the lake are bull rushes and phragmites. We will include twenty different native species, many of which are flowering.

The planting process is cold and wet. It is essential that the plants have their roots in the water. We have filled the triangle shapes within the hexagons with flax linen and we are planting into this lightweight natural material. The leaves of the plants will die over the winter but the roots should take hold and new shoots will appear in the spring.

It is essential not to disturb the birds as they come to nest on the islands and therefore the planting needs to occur in the Fall.

Birds and Bolts

Finland Week Two:

Noisy flocks of geese fly low over the lake as we bolt the pipes together, creating the Biomatrix. The weather has been clear and cold and the students are becoming more fluent with the construction process and with English. The black hexagons are striking in the light as the islands take shape; I am beginning to get a sense of the final outcome. There are two levels of height to the big island, which we are creating using large pipes underneath the matrix. We are attaching these pipes using rope and stainless steel strapping. The extra buoyancy of the large pipes will support the gravel and rocks while the regular matrix will be planted with wetland plants. The height difference will make the islands appear more natural.

I have been filming the connection of the hexagons to form the Biomatrix and I would like to create a short video piece in which the process is speeded up so that it is possible to see the island take shape in one minute.

A Blending of Art and Science in Finland

Biomatrix Large Island Design

Materials Arriving at the Site

Beginning Work Assembling the Biomatrix

Jackie Brookner Creating Fake Rocks

Me and My Husband Galen Fulford

Week One: An Introduction to the Project

In Salo, Finland there is a lake that is polluted by a nearby sewage treatment plant. This bright green lake is a key place for migrating birds. With a team of artists, limnologists, ornithologists and college students I am working on creating three floating islands, which will serve multiple purposes. The Islands, the largest of which is 30m diameter, will have local wetland plants growing in the water on which millions of microorganisms will flourish. Patented media below the islands will also provide surface area for these micro-organisms. Aerators will create an aerobic environment encouraging the growth of these positive micro-organisms, which eat the contaminants in the water. On the largest island we will create a protected environment for birds to nest on rocks and gravel.

The project is funded by a 1% for the arts grant from Salo City. It is part of Halikonlahti Green Arts Exhibition which features the work of many Finnish and international artists working within the eco art movement.

Students from the local vocational college studying house building are an important part of the team, giving their muscle power to putting together the HDPE pipes and planting the plants. Jackie Brookner, an ecological artist from New York City is currently making large fake rocks that will be light enough to float on the islands and strong enough for birds to rest. She is working with an expert on nanotechnology to use secret lightweight nanotech concrete.

On the first day a large truck delivered all the materials and we gathered to begin assembling the pieces. The structure, called a Biomatrix, works with the principles of biomimicry, replicating the strongest forms in nature: that of the ice crystal, and the honeycomb. This hexagonal shape is both beautiful and hardy enough to withstand the cold Finnish winter and the ice that will form on the lake.

Treatment process within Biomatrix systems can effectively:

• Reduce COD & BOD loading.
• Reduce TSS.
• Improve the clarity of the water.
• Reduce pathogens.
• Reduce nutrient levels including Nitrogen and Phosphorous.
• Breakdown organic compounds.

I am excited to be involved in this project which is blending art and science. I work with my husband and father in The Ecovillage Institute, an ecological design and engineering partnership based in Findhorn. Together we offer consulting for wastewater treatment using natural systems. This project is especially interesting to me because of its primary role as an art project.

After Nature

In a recent visit to New York City I had the privilege of getting to see a relevant and disturbing exhibition at the New Museum called “After Nature”. Over ninety contemporary artists envision an extinct world or one on the verge of extinction. The show was inspired by "Lessons of Darkness", a video by Werner Herzog of the 700 Kuwaiti oil wells that the Iraqis burned in the wake of the Gulf War. Six million barrels of oil were burned a day and the footage of the smoke, fires, fireman, trucks and wasted landscape looks like the end of the world.

Faced with the overwhelming fact that the Earth’s Ecosystem is out of balance due to human population and the dramatic abuse of fossil fuels, we are forced to imagine scenarios of global catastrophe. We are already experiencing more severe storms, floods, draughts, and hurricanes than ever before. Many scientists predict that runaway global warming is inevitable and as humans warm the planet, the ice caps melt and sea levels rise creating as many as 600 million refuges from rising seas (The International Institute for Environment and Development). As glaciers melt less water is stored as snow creating flooding and lower water tables. Water shortages along with population growth spell disaster. We have been living in a time of unnatural abundance by burning ancient sunlight that has been stored for millions of years. The exhibition “After Nature” is a timely look at our potential lack of future if dramatic change does not take place soon.

Imagine an ethnographic museum full of the remnants of human civilization. Here artist Pawet Althamer created a self-portrait made up of all his clothes and belongings wrapped in plastic. Next to this is “Pawet and Monika” two people frozen in a glass box with cameras and cell phones, yet their insides are made of straw. This is a poignant reminder that we may feel detached from nature yet we are in fact one and the same. Berlinde De Bruyckere has made a wax body that is melted and scared, lying in a glass coffin. Next to this can be viewed “The Magnificent Seven” distorted ceramic heads on metal poles by Thomas Schutte, a sculpture that made me think of warfare, both primal and chemical.

Another artist imagined a world in which nature outlived humanity, shown by photographs of Kudzu vine devouring buildings in the US South. These were both sad and strangely beautiful, showing the Earth’s ability to heal and erase signs of human life. It made me think of ancient ruins from past civilizations such as the Incans and Mayans that were discovered hidden in the jungles of Central and South America. Diego Perrone also used photography to take pictures of large holes in the Earth with humans interacting with the spaces. He says about his work “ I wish to speak for nature”.

George Bush has tried to fill our minds with religious views of good and evil and the idea that the “axis of evil” exists in the Middle Eastern states. Inspired by this image of paranoia Roberto Cuoghi has sought to create a psychogeography of this evil empire through black glass, lead and ink maps of imaginary “dark” landscapes. In perhaps one of the most distressing of the show’s art pieces Maurizio Cattelan’s equestrian sculpture shows a taxidermied horse hanging with its’ head missing into the wall. The feeling is one of fear and madness.
Although this show “After Nature” is frightening and heavy I left the New Museum encouraged. Finally artists are involved in creating art about ecological issues. Ecological art is not a tiny movement on the edges of the art world, but entering into large museums and influencing the public to wake up and realize the extent of the change that needs to happen if we are to avoid global catastrophe.

Alpine Sow Thistle

On precipitous ledges and cool gullies in the Eastern Grampian Mountains of Angus and South Aberdeen there lives a rare alpine plant called Cicerbita alpina or Alpine Sow Thistle. This plant has survived since the last ice age but is currently classified as vulnerable. The Eastern Grampian Mountains are its only stronghold within the UK and Alpine Sow Thistle has gradually been forced into the most remote places where it is protected from sheep, deer and mountain hares. It can be found in only four locations within these mountains between 600m and 1000m. It usually lives on North facing ledges or ravines where snow is plentiful and provides water in the spring to nourish new shoots. It is unfortunate that the plant has been forced into such extreme sites for protection as the current populations suffer from the exposure and the plants appear battered with browning leaves. There is concern that with climate change the habitat for Alpine Sow Thistle will be reduced resulting in further losses. Other threats are rock falls, and population isolation, which can lead to seed infertility. The Alpine Sow Thistle presents us with a frightening look at the impact of grazing on Scotland’s wildlife, in which many plants can only survive in the most remote and precarious locations.

Bibliography:

Alexander, L. Action Plan Research on Alpine Blue Sowthistle, C. alpina. Report to Scottish Natural Heritage.

Lusby, Philip and Wright, Jenny. Scottish Wild Plants: Their History, Ecology and Conservation. Mercat Press, 2001.

Norwegian Specklebelly

Pseudocyphellaria norvegica or Norwegian Specklebelly is a lichen that has gone extinct in Wales and lives in only one location in England and five locations in Scotland. It survives in ancient woodlands on hazel, ash, sallow, elm, oak and willow. Due to their interesting symbiotic relationship between fungus and alga (with the fungus providing water and minerals and the alga photosynthesis) lichens are tough and able to survive in extreme climates. They are however very sensitive to air pollution and are sometimes used as bio-indicators of air quality. The Norwegian Specklebelly suffers from over acidity due to air pollution and this contributes to its decline in the UK. It is also at risk from deforestation, as it does not grow on young trees. This interesting lichen is mostly brown in color with white on the upper surface of the thallos. It is considered to be leafy and lobed and prefers sheltered humid locations near the coast.

Bibliography:

Black, B & Raymond J. Glen Nant Caledonian Forest Reserve Regeneration Plot Annual Reports 1992-2005, Forestry Commission Scotland.

UK Biodiversity Action Plan.Species Pseudocyphellaria norvegica. http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=537

Matted Bryum

It is easy to appreciate a vintage wine or a precious antique for their age and value. On Earth terms however with the planet being over 4.5 billion years old modern human species (originating with Homo Habilis the first of the Homo genus line) is young having existed only 2.2 to 1.5 million years. The first land plant species are bryophytes and have existed for 400 million years. This alone should be cause to value these incredible plants. Bryophytes are made up of three distinct groups, mosses, liverworts and hornworts. Scotland has over 920 species of bryophytes. They are ecologically important as they absorb water, maintaining humidity in the soil over dry periods and preventing flooding in wet periods. They are pioneers meaning that they often will sprout first enabling other plant species to follow them. Many animals and invertebrates live on bryophytes.

Bryum calophyllum known as Matted or Blunt Bryum is an endangered bryophyte moss that lives on coastal moist sand dune slacks. It has become extinct in all but four locations in Britain and exists only in one location in Wales and the remainder in Scotland. It currently can be found in West Ross, Islay and Bettyhill. It is threatened by habitat destruction. In several sites it has gone extinct due to golf course development and the construction of holiday homes. It is also at risk from trampling, motorcycle dune joy riders, eutrophication of water supplies due to chemical fertilizers used on nearby golf courses or farms and drainage. Other threatened bryophyte mosses are Petalophyllum ralfsii or Petalwort, a liverwort which survives in only one location on the West Coast of Scotland, Bryum neodamense or Long-leaved Thread-moss which exists in one location in Scotland and Bryum warneum or Warne’s Thread-moss which exists in only five locations in Scotland. It is important to protect this ancient species and limit coastal development, golf courses and chemical agriculture in Scotland.

Bibliography:
Holyoak, Dr. David. Looking After Rare Mosses and Liverworts in Coastal Dune Slacks. Back from the Brink Management Series, Plantlife, 2003.