Encroachment
Joseph Shaeffer grew up in a family of conservationists, his Grandfather was the President of the National Wildlife Federation and his Father and older brother continue in his footsteps by restoring native grasslands in South Dakota and Michigan with the intention of securing the propagation of indigenous wildlife by providing and conserving the native prairie habitat necessary for these species to thrive.
While still holding firmly to the ideals that his family continued to put into practice, as a contemporary artist, Shaeffer was often at odds with this aspect of his upbringing and had not taken initiative to pursue these same ideals in his own work, until recently, when he began conceptualizing this new body of work that deals with the subject of encroachment; not of mankind into the realm of nature, but rather of natures eventual encroachment into the world of modern man. This work was initiated with two beliefs in mind, the first being that mankind was given the gift of a conscious mind and with this comes the ability to decide between right and wrong, yet we continue to fail in our responsibility to live symbiotically with our natural environment.
Through these decisions we are only harming ourselves and ultimately destroying not only the planet itself but also our ability to exist upon it. The second belief was that nature is indeed delicate on a microcosmic level, but as a whole is ultimately more powerful than we can imagine and when called upon
While still holding firmly to the ideals that his family continued to put into practice, as a contemporary artist, Shaeffer was often at odds with this aspect of his upbringing and had not taken initiative to pursue these same ideals in his own work, until recently, when he began conceptualizing this new body of work that deals with the subject of encroachment; not of mankind into the realm of nature, but rather of natures eventual encroachment into the world of modern man. This work was initiated with two beliefs in mind, the first being that mankind was given the gift of a conscious mind and with this comes the ability to decide between right and wrong, yet we continue to fail in our responsibility to live symbiotically with our natural environment.
Through these decisions we are only harming ourselves and ultimately destroying not only the planet itself but also our ability to exist upon it. The second belief was that nature is indeed delicate on a microcosmic level, but as a whole is ultimately more powerful than we can imagine and when called upon
to protect itself, it will do so in ways we cannot yet comprehend. We are beginning to understand this on some small level by recognizing things like virus mutation and climate change. But what, ultimately, will nature do to protect itself from our trespasses?
With these thoughts, Shaeffer started to form the notion of how this work would begin to visually manifest. It was important for the work to convey the idea that nature would eventually, somehow, make the decision to incorporate aspects of mankind’s’ technology to both thrive in and protect itself from the environment we have thrust upon it. This idea was executed by combining materials that were taken both from nature (hornets nests, porcupine quills, thorns, beetles, etc.) and cast-offs of the industrial world (antique foundry patterns, scientific glass, machine parts, etc.). The time has come for mankind to either continue with the current technological, information age paradigm or work towards an epoch of ecological responsibility. These sculptures should be understood not as a literal visual record of how such things might present themselves in the future, but as a conceptual and abstract representation of this idea.
As this body of work continues, it will grow to include an installation comprised of several sculptural elements and small living ecosystems. These will then be used as set pieces and placed in various natural and industrial settings to be documented for a series of photo-based works.
With these thoughts, Shaeffer started to form the notion of how this work would begin to visually manifest. It was important for the work to convey the idea that nature would eventually, somehow, make the decision to incorporate aspects of mankind’s’ technology to both thrive in and protect itself from the environment we have thrust upon it. This idea was executed by combining materials that were taken both from nature (hornets nests, porcupine quills, thorns, beetles, etc.) and cast-offs of the industrial world (antique foundry patterns, scientific glass, machine parts, etc.). The time has come for mankind to either continue with the current technological, information age paradigm or work towards an epoch of ecological responsibility. These sculptures should be understood not as a literal visual record of how such things might present themselves in the future, but as a conceptual and abstract representation of this idea.
As this body of work continues, it will grow to include an installation comprised of several sculptural elements and small living ecosystems. These will then be used as set pieces and placed in various natural and industrial settings to be documented for a series of photo-based works.
Untitled oo1 (From Encroachment)
2009
antique foundry patterns, scientific glass, aluminum, moss, Atherurus Africanus quills, stainless steel tubing
Untitled 002 (From Encroachment)
2009
antique foundry patterns, scientific glass, aluminum, moss, Chalcosoma Atlas , stainless steel tubing
Untitled 003 (From Encroachment)
2009
antique foundry patterns, scientific glass, aluminum, moss, Cyclomatus Elaphus, hand cut paper, convex lens, stainless steel tubing
Encroachment (study for digital enlargement)