Earthmakers
Earthmakers pays homage to the approximately 3,500,000 million organisms that inhabit one square meter of British Columbia forest soil. The installation depicts over 5,000 soil organisms (i.e., bugs, also referred to as soil fauna and soil animals) specific to a site on Northern Vancouver Island near Port McNeill. It is comprised of 168 24 x 33” photo-etchings printed on thin sheets of Japanese Kozo paper. The images of soil organisms used in the making of the transparencies for the photo-etched matrices were drawn, photographed, photocopied, and computer generated.
The installation also includes a modular collage piece made of recycled forest products that models the litter layer of the forest floor from and beneath which the soil organisms originate. It is comprised of twenty-five 31 x 31” units that may be arranged in different configurations on the wall or floor or added to depending upon the site of the installation.
The remaining elements of the exhibit include an area of cedar on the floor that is related to a square meter of soil, an audio tape of rain mixed with the sound of footsteps and voices recorded underground in New York City's Grand Central Station, and an index. The index details briefly the source of the creatures shown and the processes employed to depict each one. It also classifies the organisms scientifically in regard to Order and, in some instances, to those of Family, Genus and Species.
1.Earthmakers, installation view (etchings on Kozo paper, cedar, sound component and index), Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC, 1998. (Barbara Zeigler and Joan Smith, collaborative work).
2. Earthmakers , installation view of etchings, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC, 1998. (Barbara Zeigler and Joan Smith, collaborative work).
3. Earthmakers : Forest Floor , installation view of 18 panel mixed-media collage, 236.2 x 321.4 cm (7' 9” x 10' 3”), Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC, 1998. (B. Zeigler and J. Smith, collaborative work).
4. Earthmakers: Forest Floor , close-up of 18 panel mixed-media collage.
5. Earthmakers, installation view in foreground with interactive collaborative work by Zeigler and Smith tittled Groundwork done in collaboration with the public in the background, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC, 1998.
11. Earthmakers , installation view, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, 1997. (B. Zeigler and J. Smith, collaborative work).
6. Earthmakers , B. Zeigler in front of one wall of prints of the installation.
7. Earthmakers , installation view of etchings, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC, 1998. (B. Zeigler and J. Smith, collaborative work).
12. Earthmakers , installation view of Forest Floor collage panels on walls. The projector in the foreground is part of the Devine Detritus installation by Zeigler & Smith done in collaboration with Malaspina University-College students and faculty , Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, BC, 1997.
10. Earthmakers , detail view of one of 200 + etchings each 60.96 x 83.82 cm (24 x 33”). (B. Zeigler and J. Smith, collaborative work).
8. Earthmakers , installation view, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, 1995. (B. Zeigler and J. Smith, collaborative work).
9. Earthmakers , installation of artwork by gallery staff of the Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, 1995.
13. Devine Detritus , Zeigler and Smith in collaboration with Malaspina University-College students and faculty, mixed media including paper, paint, ink, collage and image projection, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, BC, 1997.
15. Extensions: Stepping Stones II , installation view, combination etching, collagraph, and photocopy, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, BC, 1997. This is a collaborative work by Zeigler and Smith incorporating black and white etchings by Zeigler's third-year UBC students and by Peter Guzzo's 3 rd -grade Richmond, BC elementary students.
14. Devine Detritus , detail, Nanaimo Art Gallery.
“Earthmakers speaks of the passage of time and the natural cycles of life and death: the continual, the interrupted, the altered and in some instances, the obliterated. Through this work we hope to activate a consciousness of the specific forest site referenced, and thereby serve to increase awareness of the essential part soil fauna play in the delicate life cycle of the forest and the Earth's ecosystem. “ (From the Artists Statement by Zeigler and Smith, Earthmakers exhibition, Richmond Art Gallery, BC).