Reverberations (Second Iteration)
Reverberations abstractly illustrate the feelings and purpose behind the sounds made by the two most common plants in our lives, grass and trees. In this immersive installation, you enter a bisected world half above and half below the soil’s surface. One side explores the distressing scream that grass makes when it is cut to signal to other grasses that they are in danger. The other side takes you below ground level to give a window into the symbiotic fungal system that make tree roots able to communicate, commonly known as the “wood wide web”.
Reverberations visualizes these auditory occurrences by using layered patchwork, fabric painting, quilting and radial composition. Highlighting the emotional aspects of these plants lives as well as the multi-sensory nature of how they talk, falls in line with the themes in artist Brooke Erin Goldstein’s greater body of work. Goldstein states “It means something to me that we don’t just look at the what and how but also the why of this type of communication. As viewers immerse themselves in these two worlds, I hope they will have a whole new understanding of the natural world, opening up to more sensitivity and excitement about the plants around you.”
*Reverberations in its second iteration was on view as part of the dead teach me how to die by letting me wildly live curated by Becci Davis. The exhibition featured works by Jordan Seaberry, Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, Brooke Erin Goldstein, Kei Soares-Cobb, and Laura Brown-Lavoie. The show was on view at The Lindemann Performing Arts Center at Brown University publicly overlooking Angell St in Providence RI, from November 1st through November 17th, 2024.
**All Photos by Peter Chenot
