Alfred Montez & Jason Osteo, Immersive Audio
Ben Block: "must have been the wind" Immersive Audio
Nicole Guerrera, Paint
Clare Follmann: "Scapegoat", Paint and Audio
Clare Follmann, M.E.S., is an author
and environmentalist located in Olympia, Washington. Her writing engages with
themes of landscape, ecology, climate crisis, language, and philosophy. She
likes to poke holes in dominant or obsolete narratives, and strives to both
listen to and help uplift the voices and stories that have been too often cast
aside. Her work focuses on finding and planting the literal and
figurative seeds that will help support a post-capitalist society that
prioritizes the well-being of people and planet.
While her primary medium is words, she is interested in how art
offers a unique opportunity to interrogate the underlying causes of our natural
world in crisis. She uses a combination of visual art, audio recordings, and
the written word to firmly plant her audience within the context of six
ecosystems undergoing invasive species management. Each work features a
painting of a species considered invasive to the Pacific Northwest, and is
paired with an audio recording of that species' ecosystem contrasted by the
sounds of its preferred eradication method. Gunfire punctuates birdsong,
bulldozers and chainsaws interrupt forest noises, a the thudding of helicopters
echoes across a windy mountain range. Beneath the painting is a short explanation
of the species, the mode of management, and the hidden consequences of violent
species removal. Rather than getting tangled up in the conversation about
whether invasives are "good" or "bad," these pieces offer
the audience a chance to sit within the complex realm of modern conservation
under capitalism. Her work invites the questions: Are these the best plans
available? How can ecosystem management look different? What do we miss when
invasive species management is prioritized of systems change?