The Goddess of Nature Fountain (Artemis of Ephesus) by Gillis van den Vliete in the garden of Villa d'Este in Tivol, Italy. Photo by Daniel Bordeleau (2017), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Bea Fremderman, "Weeds Compared to Flowers," 2023,
Along the shore of Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn, New York, the tides slowly expose the contents of closed landfills. Depression-era glass, soles of shoes, and conglomerations of inorganic and organic materials litter the coastal zone.
Upon her first visit to Dead Horse Bay, Fremderman described the site as the most apocalyptic landscape she had ever experienced. Once a hub for rendering dead horses and for industrial and urban waste processing, storage, and incineration, the area became renowned for its putrefaction. Today, sections are closed due to chemical pollutants and radioactive contamination.
Fremderman imagines the personas of those who may have used the detritus she collects. After a deep cleaning process, she assembles her gatherings in a technique like that used to make stained-glass windows.
Lit from within, the amoeba-like forms guide visitors through the gallery. Upon closer inspection stems of goblets, electronic chips, and pieces of dinnerware can be identified within the assemblages. The textures, colors, and shapes emanating from the sculptures result in an immersive installation.
The work hopes to offer a link to place — in this case, a landscape where the human footprint contorts and is contorted by the environment. Through the re-presentation and re-purposing of waste, Weeds Compared to Flowers intends to visualize human interconnection with disposable objects, the Earth, and an unknowable future.
Installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
The "Son of the Earth" is a sculpture standing in the vast Gobi Desert, located approximately 10 kilometers southeast of Guazhou, in north west China's Gansu. The artwork depicts a gigantic baby lying on the ground, peacefully asleep.
Kaidangku (开裆裤 in Mandarin) are unique trousers that many Chinese babies wear.
These thick cotton pants have an unsewn seam at the back and front, large enough that you can see the baby’s butt.
The pants make it easy for the baby to relieve themselves regardless of where they are, or who is looking after them.
René de Saint-Marceaux (FR, 1845-1915): Génie gardant le secret de la tombe [Genius (Spirit) Guarding the Secret of the Tomb]. Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Photographer unknown. Published in 1900 catalogue by Lemercier, Paris.
Burt Glinn's printing notes on 1965 portrait of Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick and Chuck Wein posing in a manhole in New York. Magnum Photos