Down to Earth
Participatory site-specific installation
25’x8′
August 2022
Material: reclaimed: industrial thread, wood, yarn. Other materials: recycled cardboard and driftwood.

Part of Ecolibrium, Terra Art Collective’s exhibition at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes, California.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of “Limits to Growth,” a book that warned the world about the impossibility of perpetual growth on a finite planet. The speech “Down To Earth,” delivered by Donella Meadows, the book’s lead author, in 1994, is referenced in the installation’s title. The crises we are currently facing stem from humanity’s explosion in size and complexity in a very short period, fueled by powerful and cheap oil, which has killed the biosphere and destabilized the climate that had been stable for the last 10,000 years, enabling agriculture and steady growth.

We are at a critical juncture, as this is a code red for the biosphere. It is time to shift the paradigm. While there are no single solutions, there are various responses to our predicament that could lead to a better future. The installation aims to encourage the community to reflect on critical issues and share their visions and ideas for the future.

The installation utilizes simple materials, including discarded industrial threads of various colors purchased from overstocks and reclaimed wood that cannot be sold due to defects.

About Ecolibrium

The title of our show, Ecolibrium, suggests the need for a global, societal revolution to create a new state of harmony with the larger natural world. People with greater resources must consume less, move less, and learn to enjoy lives that help create a balanced relationship with a thriving biosphere. This will also help disadvantaged people in America and around the world to prosper, rather than continue to bear the brunt of our ecological folly.

Terra Art Collective’s art strives to bring new visions, information, and engagement with these urgent issues. We strive to create art to help us envision a new ecological balance–satisfying human needs while fostering a vital, productive biosphere.

This exhibit features Terra Art Collective, a group of eco artists, including Shannon Amidon, Michele Guieu, Leah Jay, Deborah Kennedy

Exhibition: Ecolibrium
Gallery Route One
11101 Highway One, Ste. 1101
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
Open 11 AM to 5 PM – Thursday–Monday