Sustainability


painted steel, wood, birch bark, oak leaves, maple seeds 10"x6"x7 / 25x15x18cm 2005 For the exhibit Ourchitecture at the Newport Art Museum, Rhode Island. Artists were sent a small wooden house; the juror chose from these. I worked from the premise that if we and our architecture are to survive, we must be sustainable. That critical sustainability will lead to freedom from dependence and from the terminal fate we otherwise will suffer. Trees are a good metaphor for sustainability. The wings and uplifted posture suggest freedom from dependence. The shadow is bigger than the footprint of the house to suggest that by taking action towards a better fate our possibilities are greater. “Some of the most successful transformations, artistically, draw on the desire to transcend confinement or, in contrast, stress the menace that can be felt to surround protected spaces. Wings sprouting from its roof, Joyce Audy Zarins’ birch-bark-covered “Sustainability” is tipped back, about to take flight.”

- Bill Rodrigues. “Home is where…” The Providence Phoenix December 16-22, 2005

photo credit : Joyce