Projects
The Plant was Present (2011)
Sansevieria Trifasciata, an epic houseplant, performed its work “The Plant is Present” at the School of the Art Institute’s New Blood Performance Festival, November 19th and 20th, 2011. The plant sat silently while a total of 138 visitors took turns sitting in a chair opposite it, staying in its presence for as long as they liked. All guests were photographed, and asked to record their experience in a comment book. Responses ranged from “I felt a connection to the plant and was able to live in the moment” to “It was awkward” to “So good! I loved every second of it!” to “Marina was exactly as interesting.” Check back later for more documentation, a full transcription of the comment book and photos of all 138 visitors to the plant.
Water Fight with a Cactus. (2011)
There’s a Prickly Pear Cactus near my house in Oakland. It thinks it’s better than me. Just because it makes delicious fruit and holds hella water. Well, to heck with you, Cactus. I can hold water. In biodegradable bags as I FLING THEM AT YOUR FACE! This is High Noon, Cactus. Water Retention vs. Water Retention. Prickly Pear vs. Prickly Personality. It’s totally irrelevant that you’re designed for the heat, and that this mere hour of throwing things at you will burn me a piggy shade of pink.You’re not the only thing that can survive a drought. Now hang on while I down eight glasses of AWESOME.
Epic battle captured in photos by Sarabek Images.
David vs. Gack (2011)
I lived in a warehouse complex in Oakland, CA. My neighborhood was a series of smog shops, pallet yards and old factories. We got a notice in the mail that a site near us was undergoing remediation for hydrocarbon and lead pollution, among other things. I wanted to help. Participants of a workshop at the last Earth Matters on Stage Symposium had mixed bags of oyster mushroom mycelium, sawdust and dirt in their own remediative performances. I took the remnants and shot them over the fence with a slingshot. In my old neighborhood, hydrocarbon pollution is a Goliath.
Photos: sarabek images
Yielding Air (2010)
The other day I ran a yellow light, and it was mildly harrowing. So I decided to do it again, full-force jogging style, with an English Ivy. We would languidly dodge traffic while making carbon dioxide and oxygen together. I think the Ivy might have been working harder, as it was removing toxins and airborne feces as well. I ran around the intersection at 12th and Broadway in downtown Oakland for about a half-hour, preceded by a 15-minute stretch on the corner. Everyone always thinks I’m selling plants, even when it’s obvious I’m suited up to go jogging with them. In this video, a plaza security guard is chatting with Sarah Cross, who is filming.
video and photos: Sarah Cross Photography
Pathos/Pothos (2010)
Today I sat on the street with a cardboard sign and a plant. The sign said: “PLEASE HELP my plant remove toxins and pollutants from the air. DONATIONS of CO2 much appreciated. He’s a Pothos. I call him Fred. Exhalations = Awesome. No cash accepted.”
Over the course of 3 hours, 22 people stopped to read the sign or talk to me. As thanks, I handed them a flier with a friendly list of other plants that clean the air. Three people offered me money, one guy tried to give me a granola bar, all of which I politely declined. This was all part of the Conflux Festival in NYC. While I was sitting on my rear, there were workshops, panels, performances and hikes happening all over the East Village
The Grand Total of Reaction to Pathos/Pothos is below: Everything from joy to pornographic remarks.
Funhouses (2003+)
In the early 2000s I got very excited about funhouses as interactive spaces of abstract form. While traveling around the country with veggie buses and hitchhiking, I would stop at state fairs and carnivals to take pictures, and geek out on Carnival History. At some point I also assisted an elementary school class in making their own roller coasters. This is essentially an archive of the photos, research and explorations of that time.
