Each week, host Gabriel Barcia-Colombo speaks with a new artist, curator, technologist, AI, collector, innovator, about the ever-changing relationship between art and tech.
Artist duo Mary O'Brien & Daniel McCormick use "land as the palette" for the work they do. In this episode, the two explain their efforts to use land art as a restorative medium, bringing much needed life and balance back to struggling ecosystems. As we continue our exploration into "environmental art," O'Brien and McCormick explain why they refer to their work as "restorative art" rather than "eco-art," how they became involved in the land art movement, and who they bring into their artistic efforts to successfully rebuild the habitats they're involved with.
-About Watershed Sculpture-
The Art Practice of Daniel McCormick & Mary O’Brien
Daniel McCormick and Mary O’Brien collaborate on ecological art installations that have remedial qualities. Working in both urban and agricultural watersheds and riparian corridors, McCormick and O’Brien respond to environmental issues by moving away from an anthropocentric view of nature to create sculptures that work with natural systems. Their work is often ephemeral and temporal. When their interventions are completed and a restoration cycle is established, they intend to leave no evidence of a hand made object. For over 25 years, they have been using art to restore and affect a positive ecological balance in damaged environments.
McCormick & O’Brien both hold degrees from University of California, Berkeley. Daniel McCormick's experience as a multi-disciplinary artist in the fields of sculptural installation and environmental design brings both a public art and ecological trajectory to their work. Mary O'Brien is a sculptor and writer and initiates the community engagement plans enlisting the support of art organizations and government agencies.
Their collaborations reflect the artists’ concerns for the environment and community, but also their belief that art has a responsibility to do more than witness or document cultural changes. Their installation works can be found in watersheds across the United States.
Learn more at www.watershedsculpture.com
Follow them @watershedsculpture
*This interview was recorded at The Headlands Center for the Arts; learn more here*
