If you have recently enjoyed the many splendors of 100 Acres, you may have noticed that Funky Bones and Chop Stick have a new neighbor to get used to. A. Bitterman is the resident artist on Indy Island and he has had no problem making himself comfortable in his new home/habitat. The best example of this that comes to mind is a giant animal trap, complete with armchair, side table, and lamp. This cage, seemingly meant for a mutant possum is, in fact, a habitat restoration area for our dear A. Bitterman. Along with his posh lounge area, you may also stumble across a GPS tracking station, interpretive kiosk, viewing station, or an area of unmediated flux. If you are lucky enough to have a chance encounter with the artist, do not be confused/creeped-out if he is:

1. Not talking
2. Taking food from strangers
3. Throwing an imaginary ball
4. Wearing a beaver suit

However, if you choose not to track down the artist during your day visit, then we have something else you might be interested in. A. Bitterman is opening up his igloo to guests in the evenings for movie showings. Reservations can be made online and it’s free…in the monetary sense of the word. All he asks is that you bring him dinner or dessert in exchange for the ultimate cinematic experience of a lifetime. I say this with great gusto because just last evening I made brownies for Bitterman and enjoyed the ultimate cinematic experience of a lifetime for myself…

Slowly raise your right hand, palm facing outward. Wait for artist to mimic gesture with corresponding hand. Raise left hand, palm facing outward. Wait for artist to mimic gesture with corresponding hand. Once both pairs of hands are in proper position, slowly lower both hands so as to make a circle. Take one step backward, clap once. “You have now greeted the artist and may attempt another exchange.”

The journey begins…

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Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Contemporary

I wanted to let everyone in the blogosphere know that the Indianapolis Museum of Art would like to celebrate the accomplishments of Irvin Etienne.  He has been a part of this organization’s growing identity as a top notch public garden for the past 20 years.  He hasn’t just been pulling weeds all this time, but is a major reason why the museum’s gardens look the way they do.  I would like to thank him for his innovative ideas during the numerous garden renovations and museum expansions.  He was pivotal in looking at each area and thinking through the various exposures and design requirements. He helps all the horticulture staff with plant selections, from the best shrub that is period-appropriate in Oldfields to the brightest tropical that will practically blind you.  Imagine planting a landscape and watching it grow for 20 years.  I know that it gives him a sense of pride knowing how much of his work will provide visitors with beautiful surroundings for years and years to come. Many people just look at the plantings as a green mass and take them for granted because they seem to have always been there. I encourage you to look deeper into what you see. Can you pull out the intricacies of what has been planned? Do the colors work together; does it last and evolve throughout the season?  How do the plants textures play off of each other?

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Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Horticulture

Andrea Zittel, American, b. 1965, “Indy Island,” 2010. Commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Courtesy of the Artist and Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York.

As you may or may not already know, the IMA organizes an artist residency each summer on Andrea Zittel’s Indy Island within 100 Acres.  This year, the park will be inhabited by A. Bitterman and the project is called Indigenous.  As part of the project, Mr. Bitterman wants to provide spectators an opportunity to track the artist.

To accomplish this, we first looked into commercial GPS solutions that would allow us to send realtime GPS data over the web that could then be plotted on a map.  The closest thing we found is the Garmin Communicator API that works with select devices.  Unfortunately this came with limitations on how often data could be polled, so it turned out to be less then a desirable solution.

Enter Arduino.

What is this strange word and what does it have to do with tracking artists?  Arduino is an open source microcontroller for scientists, engineers, programmers, and hobbyists.  Stopping short of my personal opinion that this little device will revolutionize hardware like Linux revolutionized software, I will say it was exactly what we needed.

Most any store that sells an Arduino also sells what are called “shields.” These shields allow you to attach different electronic circuits to the Arduino so that you can program your software to control and utilize them.  For our application, we needed a GPS shield to track our artist and a cellular GSM shield to transmit the data back to us over the cellphone network.

All of the data aquired is plotted on a map using a hex binning algorithm

WARNING: the following contents are about to get very technical and nerdy.  If you aren’t interested in the technical bits and just want to see where the artist is, you can jump straight to the website to “track the artist.”

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Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Technology

Reflecting on the past four months, which has been a fantastic learning experience and undoubtedly great fun, brings a smile to my face.

Through my internship with the Horticulture Department, it was my task to design a wetland restoration project at the Lake Terrace area in the IMA’s 100 Acres: Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park.  Before this project, the area was underutilized, had minimal native vegetation, and suffered from the aggressive nature of several invasive species.

So what did I do exactly? Let’s take a walk. Starting at the lake, several species of grasses and sedges have been planted, including two of my favorites: Carex emoryi (Riverbank Tussock Sedge), an excellent, adaptable sedge that thrives in wetland areas, even those that experience varying levels of water throughout the year and Juncus torreyi (Torrey’s Rush), a wonderful early successional species that will produce spike-shaped seedheads. Both species are rhizomatous in growth, which is ideal for a relatively quick establishment.

As you walk further away from the lake toward the new artwork Chop Stick, you will notice a grouping of Cephalanthus occidentalis (Buttonbush) and Glyercia striata (Fowl Manna Grass). Buttonbush, a hydrophilic shrub, produces an aggregate of white flowers that insects, especially butterflies and bees are certain to love. Also, the seeds are a good quality food source for waterfowl. Among the cool-season Carex spp., Fowl Manna Grass, a species that prefers shady, moist wetlands has been added near the drainage pipe.

Near the end of the swale, don’t miss out on Chasmanthium latifolium (Northern Sea Oats), a unique, warm-season grass that displays seedheads characteristic of oats. Look for the yellow-golden color of the leaves in the fall.

The species in the swale will function to filter stormwater runoff and recharge groundwater resources, imperative to conserving clean water. As the new plants establish, wildlife will benefit from the added cover, fruit, and flowers.

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Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Horticulture

Typically at this time of year, I am planning April and May photography dates for our historic grounds and gardens, 100 Acres Art and Nature Park, and the Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana.

The absence of any substantial winter weather in the state, combined with spring temperatures ten to twelve degrees higher for the month of March, has produced an accelerated blooming and photography season.

The transition to daylight savings time on the 11^th, in conjunction with the vernal equinox on the 20^th, and summer like heat of the past two weeks, has created a perfect storm of urgency for photographers.

The most pressing concern was the quick budding and blooming of our lovely magnolias on the east and south locations of the Miller House. A missed blooming season, albeit a short one, means waiting another year to capture these lovelies at their peak and the threat of a cold front or good spring rainstorm made my decision an easy one. April be damned, I’m all in.

Timing, patience, and good light are everything in photography, and my early morning visit to Columbus this week provided another uniquely pleasant experience to photograph a visually diverse residence, inside and out.

Each visit is more compelling and interesting than the previous and I can’t help but imagine how wonderful it must have been to live and flourish as children in these spaces.

These images of the magnolia blooms were captured on the first day of Spring. The Miller House and Garden is now open for tours, so get down there and experience this all-too-fleeting moment for yourself.

Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Miller House, Photography