Design/Etc.
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 ensuring 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 any initiative to pursue these same ideals in his own work until recently with the conceptualization of a new body of work titled The Epoch of Encroachment. 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?
The inception point for this new body of work can be traced to the discovery of a simple object; an industrial electronic bug trap, which while fully functioning, became a habitat for a colony of wasps.
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 any initiative to pursue these same ideals in his own work until recently with the conceptualization of a new body of work titled The Epoch of Encroachment. 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?
The inception point for this new body of work can be traced to the discovery of a simple object; an industrial electronic bug trap, which while fully functioning, became a habitat for a colony of wasps.
The notion of this object and the implications it presented served as a basis for the artist to examine the subject of encroachment; not of mankind into the realm of nature, but rather of nature’s eventual encroachment into the world of modern man and our technologies.
The Epoch of Encroachment is an attempt to convey a future scenario where nature will respond as a sentient entity by making the conscious decision to utilize aspects of human technology to both thrive in and protect itself from the environment we have thrust upon it. Evidence of the manipulation of technology by nature already exists in experiments conducted by the Russian scientist Vladimir Karamanov, director of the Laboratory of Biocybernetics of the Institute of Agrophysics. These experiments produced results showing that plants could auto-regulate their environment and establish optimal conditions for their growth by manipulating, through movement, a series of electronic switches designed to control levels of light and the amount of water being dispensed.
Using these concepts as a point of reference, Shaeffer started to form the notion of how this work would begin to visually manifest. The resulting objects were achieved by incorporating natural materials like hornet’s nests, porcupine quills, thorns, beetles, plants and minerals then coupling them with industrial reliquary such as antique foundry patterns, scientific glass and machine parts. This body of work 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.
The Epoch of Encroachment is an attempt to convey a future scenario where nature will respond as a sentient entity by making the conscious decision to utilize aspects of human technology to both thrive in and protect itself from the environment we have thrust upon it. Evidence of the manipulation of technology by nature already exists in experiments conducted by the Russian scientist Vladimir Karamanov, director of the Laboratory of Biocybernetics of the Institute of Agrophysics. These experiments produced results showing that plants could auto-regulate their environment and establish optimal conditions for their growth by manipulating, through movement, a series of electronic switches designed to control levels of light and the amount of water being dispensed.
Using these concepts as a point of reference, Shaeffer started to form the notion of how this work would begin to visually manifest. The resulting objects were achieved by incorporating natural materials like hornet’s nests, porcupine quills, thorns, beetles, plants and minerals then coupling them with industrial reliquary such as antique foundry patterns, scientific glass and machine parts. This body of work 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.
The Epoch of Encroachment
(installation view)
The Nature of Things
2010 Biennial of the Americas
living ecosystem, stainless steel, scientific glass, loc-line, Aplyssinafistularis (tube sponge) casting, Dolichovespula Maculata (bald faced hornet) nests,
Atherurus Africanis (African porcupine) quills, acrylic, surgical tubing
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)