It’s often difficult to decipher the intent behind art and figure out what a piece hanging on a gallery wall really means or how the person who created it wanted to make you feel. But when it works, art can be an incredibly effective Trojan horse for education, sparking relevant and accessible discussions for the general public.
Cambridge-based artist David Buckley Borden is known for crafting immersive and thought-provoking exhibitions, which promote creative reflection while also spreading vital information about environmental issues. Over the course of both his current year-long fellowship at Harvard University and partnership with the New England Landscape Futures research project, Borden is addressing how art can help inform ecological decisions among the population at large and encourage them to support long-term stewardship. In collaboration with scientists and ecologists at the Harvard Forest Department, his work is often a twist on iconic items familiar to any outdoor enthusiast: altered trail warning signs, lanterns built from recycled field equipment and fire danger billboards charting current environmental threat levels.
Driven by his interest in speculative design and cartography, Borden’s graphic installations are colorful and clear, infusing scientific totems like weather sensors with an attention-grabbing pop-art style. Strategically placed on the grounds of the Harvard Forest, the pieces are highly visible and easily understandable triggers to make us think about what’s really going on in the natural world. Some even function as a disturbingly impactful warning of future ecological disaster scenarios, such as Borden’s concept for the “Back 40 Eco Monitor,” an imagined network of sensors to alert you if toxic fallout or industrial smog is approaching your property.
In 2017, climate change denial itself is becoming a genuine disaster, but initiatives like these give us a road map to smarter communication and engagement with skeptics. The Harvard Forest Project is art at its best, spreading crucial facts via emotional outreach to create an empowered world. More on David Buckley Borden’s residence is available at davidbuckleyborden.com.
This article was originally published in RANGE Magazine Issue Seven.
Images courtesy of David Buckley Borden, Jack Byers, Dr. Aaron Ellison, Salua Rivero and Trifecta.
xx Nina