about: the sky is falling
Study
September 30 3:53pm Shinnecock with Susanna The Sky is Falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills spacetime
2009 Albumen Prints 20” x 16” Unique
Private commission/Collection of Agnes Gund
One of seventeen portraits of Shinnecock and his flock commissioned (2009) by Agnes Gund (two pictured, l) were produced in the historic photographic medium of Albumen prints (1860-1899). As a conceptual context reflecting the importance of chickens to human and technological development.
March 28, 2006
When Sandrow’s path crossed with a large white bird (l, a Padovana cockerel later named Shinnecock for where they met) in the Hills: his feathered crest reminded her of Edward S. Curtis’s series of portraits “The North American Indian” (pictured: Portfolio plates 408). And their regalia (pictured) Eastern Woodland headdress (pictured, at Shinnecock Indian Nation Annual Pow Wow, Shinnecock Nation Performance Artist Shane Weeks.)
Her Chance Encounter (Surrealist doctrine of objective chance) in the hills where Native Americans had roamed freely before the Town was founded in 1640 and seized the lands in 1859.
At this time, The Shinnecock Tribe’s efforts to regain their ancestral lands was on-appeal due to a federal judge’s ruling (December 2006) “that the Shinnecock Nation tribe waited too long to bring the case.” A landscape sketched, and memorialized in paintings by plein air artist William Merritt Chase, (The Shinnecock Years, Parrish Art Museum) when he lived with his family (and a flock of chickens) nearby.
“The Sky is Falling” is the central phrase in the folk tale "Chicken Little" aka “Henny Penny” selected by Sandrow as her title ... (continued below)
OPEN AIR STUDIO
digital video, 4 minutes 2012
Commissioned by curators Lowery Stokes Sims and Elizabeth Kirrane for the traveling exhibit, Against The Grain; Contemporary Works in Wood
Museum of Arts and Design March 19 - Sept 15, 2013
To reflect the socio, cultural, and ideological policies of the Bush Administration. Bush believed “the verdict is still out on how God created the earth". With Evangelist (Billy Graham) and Creationist (Ken Hamm) allies, a concerted fight was launched to maintain world order (white male supremacy) overseen by a god in heaven. With the representation of all women as genetically inferior reduced to their reproductive function; sexual acts performed on-demand by men. And prevent (in their words) “indoctrination” in Darwinism by be-littling critics as hysterical women (aka Henny Penny), hen-pecked men “acting” unreasonably afraid of change in climate, water and air quality; for creationism taught alongside evolution in public schools.
Anti-science stances to rationalize their “not”: recognizing the equal rights of women (Note 1); protecting civil liberties; stopping police brutality towards black men and women, LGBT, legislating marriage, racial and gender equality. “Not”: conserving natural resources on Federal Lands including those Tribal, as stewards, held in “trust”. “Not”: taking action to avoid the worsening economic crisis nor to lower greenhouse gases to avoid increasing instances of climate change, calls for action. Despite exponential amounts released during industrial farming practices that threaten the survival of flora and fauna, such as the chicken who have survived 150 million years. Daily life as we know it: profound changes on Earth from the impact of humans described as the “Anthropocene” that “intensified significantly since the onset of industrialization, taking us out of the Earth System state typical of the Holocene Epoch that post-dates the last glaciation.”
Sandrow proposes a reconsideration of our relationship to nature and the natural world as we follow the unfolding story of Shinnecock and his descendants in her “living” art installation. As she and her muse Shinnecock illustrate the central premise of Michael Pollan’s seminal book" The Botany of Desire“ demonstrates how people and domesticated plants (and animals) have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship”.
The under-representation of women in high-level leadership roles (“glass ceiling”) across disciplines, including art and culture, exhibits a system based on outdated male models. That shut women out; leaving them subject to unequal pay, sexual harassment, and discrimination. As Sandrow experienced, reflected in her reference to her subsequent title “I couldn’t stop the sky from falling”.
October 17 2008 Estorgio, jr with Shinnecock I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills spacetime Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 2010 18” x 28” 3/3
Collection of Kathleen O’Connor Padovana White Rooster Shinnecock with Estorgio, Jr, aged 1 1/2 years
Padovana (aka Padua aka Polish aka Polands) listed on the Heritage Breed Watch List with “fewer than 5,000 breeding birds in the US, with estimated global population less than 10,000. Due to industrial factory farming practices that favor larger sized fowl and eggs. And prevent chickens from selecting their own mates, living naturally: wings clipped to prevent flying; Roosters kept separate from Hens.
October 17 2008, Estorgio, Jr with Gold Lace Rooster, Agenor and White-crested Black Hen, F_lowery I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills spacetime
Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 2010 18” x 28”
October 17 2008, Estorgio, Jr. with Roosters, Silver Lace Roberts and Red Lace Amurra; Tolbount Hen, Helena I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills spacetime
Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 2010 18” x 28”
We all have genes that come from our ancestors that aren't used - they're not turned on. So we actually carry ancient genes with us. If you could figure out how to turn those on, you could resurrect ancient characteristics from our ancestors.
Jack Horner, Paleontologist Co-Author How to Build a Dinosaur 2009
I believe that God created the universe. I believe that God created man, and whether it came by an evolutionary process and at a certain point He took this person or being and made him a living soul or not, does not change the fact that God did create man. ... whichever way God did it makes no difference as to what man is and man's relationship to God.
Evangelist Billy Graham 1997 Personal Thoughts of a Public Man, 1997. p. 72-74
March 17, 2009 - Gold LaceHen Cleo with her son Amurra. I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling" open air studio Shinnecock Hills spacetime Assembled wooden-kit-model of "man" made in China
2010 Pigment Print on Cotton Rag. 18” x 27”
Collection of Glynis Berry and Hideaki Ariizumi
...Chickensauros is a rough sketch of the creature I am certain we can grow in the near future from a chicken egg. By biochemically manipulating a chicken embryo in the egg to “awaken the dinosaur within”.
Jack Horner, Paleontologist Co-Author How to Build a Dinosaur 2009
The work also demonstrates the wisdom of the Designer of birds and their eggs, the Creator God of the Bible, who created the bird kinds on the fifth day of the world’s existence, about 6,000 years ago. All the species of birds we have today, and all the extinct kinds of birds, are descended from those original created kinds of birds, and the adaptive variations among them have developed within the genetic information he created with those original birds. That even the shape of a bird’s egg is suited to its body and lifestyle is a testament to his wisdom.
Ken Ham, young Earth creationist, Answers in Genesis
February 13 2009 Gold Lace Rooster Agenor I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills
2010 Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 18” x 27”
Collection of Dorothy Lichtenstein
Padovana Cockerel Gold Lace Agenor; dinosaur hatching from egg model made in China
... birds are dinosaurs, and most of the genetic program for the dinosaur characteristics we want to bring back should still be available in the chicken.
—Jack Horner, Paleontologist Co-Author How to Build a Dinosaur 2009
The fossil record does not reveal an evolutionary progression in feather development, nor does it reveal transitional animals that are part bird and part dinosaur. No scientific observations have ever shown a way that dinosaurs could acquire the genetic information to make the dramatic changes that would have been necessary to evolve into birds.
—Ken Ham, young Earth creationist, Answers in Genesis
February 10, 2009 Trish_na, M_adam, Pen, Malcsi I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills
2010, Pigment Print on Cotton Rag, 1/3 18” x 27”
Collection of Dorothy Lichtenstein
Padovana pullets (l to r) Silver Lace Trishna, Madame, Gold Lace Pen; with Cockeral Partridge Malcsi; 3 T-Rex wind-up dinosaur toys made in China, open air studio
The idea that birds—the most diverse group of land vertebrates, with nearly 10,000 living species—descended directly from dinosaurs isn't new. It was raised by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley in his 1870 treatise, Further Evidence of the Affinity between the Dinosaurian Reptiles and Birds. Huxley, a renowned anatomist perhaps best remembered for his ardent defense of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, saw little difference between the bone structure of Compsognathus, a dinosaur no bigger than a turkey, and Archaeopteryx, which was discovered in Germany and described in 1861.
— Richard Stone, Dinosaurs’ Living Descendants, Smithsonian Magazine
The story we have all heard from movies, television, newspapers, and most magazines and textbooks is that dinosaurs “ruled the Earth” for 140 million years, died out 65 million years ago, and therefore weren’t around when Noah and company set sail on the Ark around 4,300 years ago. However, the Bible gives a completely different view of Earth (and therefore, dinosaur) history.
— Ken Ham, young Earth creationist, Answers in Genesis
February 17 2009 Fr_ida I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills
2010, 19” x 28,” Pigment Print on Cotton Rag
Collection of Dorothy Lichtenstein
Padovana Hen Tolbount Fr_ida; T-rex model made in China
We can see in the fossil record how nonavian dinosaurs gave rise to avian dinosaurs and how those avian dinosaurs, the birds, themselves evolved. Along the way, a five-fingered hand changed to a three-fingered hand, changed to three fingers stretched into a wing. And we can see the development of the wing as a chicken grows.
Jack Horner, Paleontologist Co-Author How to Build a Dinosaur 2009 p158
The Bible makes it clear that nothing happened on earth by accident; everything was created by God, and was in accordance with His perfect design. The very first verse of the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The Bible also tells us that Christ was given the assignment of actually creating the universe, and “without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3).
Billy Graham, Evangelist 2005
February 17 2009 Shinnecock I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills
2010, Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 18” x 27”
Padovana Rooster, Shinnecock with a chicken and dinosaur windup toys made in China.
...the problem about the egg and the hen, which of them came first, was dragged into our talk, a difficult problem which gives investigators much trouble. And Sulla my comrade said that with a small problem, as with a tool, we were rocking loose a great and heavy one, that of the creation of the world.
Plutarch, Table Talk, Moralia 120 AD
March 17 2009 Partridge Rooster Genie with Tolbount Hens Susannah and Helena, Black Darla, Silver Lace M_adam. I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills
2010 Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 18” x 27”
Padovana pullets (l to r) Silver Lace Trishna, Madame, Gold Lace Pen; with Cockeral Partidge Malcsi; 3 wooden assembled dinosaur toys made in China, open air studio.
February 27 2009 Shinnecock I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills
2010 Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 1/3
Collection of Dorothy Lichtenstein
Assembled wooden-kit-model of "T-rex made in China
The journal Science published a watercolor of a 150-million-year-old feathered dinosaur called Anchiornis, an ancient relative of living birds... Along with the dinosaurʼs bones found in China, the fossil also preserved feathers across its whole body. And in those feathers are microscopic structures called melanosomes. The size, shape, and arrangement of the melanosomes help give color to the feathers of living birds. The new study on Anchiornis marks the first time that scientists were able to use melanosomes to map the colors of a dinosaurʼs entire body.
— Carl Zimmer, New York Times February 4 2010
Dinosaurs were created by God on Day 6 of creation, approximately 6,000 years ago, and were originally vegetarian. During the global Flood, many were buried and fossilized but two of each kind survived on Noah’s Ark. They eventually died out, due to human activity, climate changes, or other factors.
— Ken Ham, young Earth creationist, Answers in Genesis
February 27 2009 Shinnecock with White crested Black Hens Simaria and T_ruth I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills 2010 Pigment Print on Cotton Rag Assembled wooden-kit-model of "T-rex made in China
Birds wings are highly modified hands with the bones of the digits fused together,” writes Paleontologist Jack Horner, in "How to Build a Dinosaur”. Chickens “do have hands at one stage during their embryonic development.”“Eventually, four-limbed creatures colonized the land and settled on five digits, and all the shapes we see today, including wings, hooves and the hands of concert pianists evolved from the five-digit hands and feet of our lumbering ancestors.” “They found a way to photograph the hand at an even earlier stage of development - a five-fingered stage. Others have followed and there is now direct photographic evidence showing embryonic bird hands beginning with all five fingers - II, III and IV are prominent, I and V are reduced. As the hand develops, first digit I disappears followed by digit V.
— Jack Horner, Paleontologist Co-Author How to Build a Dinosaur 2009
Thus, even though dinosaur discoveries are closing in on the K-T boundary, evolutionary scientists disagree on their interpretation of the facts. The evidence is consistent with the biblical Flood model. The catastrophic cause of mass extinction of most of the dinosaur population was the global Flood. Those descended from the ones which got off the Ark eventually succumbed to the same sorts of pressures which cause extinction in animal populations today.
— Ken Ham, young Earth creationist, Answers in Genesis
Hope Sandrow with Nixon Beltran:
July 2010 Food for thought Observational Findings at Watermill Center, a study.
I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling
Egg cartons, and reassembled egg shells by chefs Zowita Mustapha and Jennifer Kaur.
Cartons with shells from eggs consumed by Nixon Beltran (Building and Grounds Manager); and artists-in-residence at Robert Wilson's Watermill Center; prepared by chefs Zowita Mustapha and Jennifer Kaur.
Dancer and performance artist Nixon Beltran conceived the idea to feed eggs created by Shinnecock Family Flock Hens to artists-in-residence at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center.
Left: Installation view (detail below)
Which Came First
I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling
July - October 2010
On & Off The Ground III
LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton New York
Shells of eggs created by Shinnecock Family Flock Hens, egg carton, assorted plants Bamboo, Senecio Rowleyanus, Sedum Morganianum
Hope Sandrow with Hideaki Ariizumi
Eggshell
Paint color for walls of installation
I couldn’t stop....the sky from falling
Artsites Riverhead New York
Paint Can1/1
Caring for nest eggs...that's what we doI couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studioPlaster egg in display as found in A. G. Edward's office prior to the 2009 banking financial crisis. 1/1A.G. Edwards was founded in 1887 when Albert Gallatin Edwards and his son opened for business in St. Louis. Due to increased capital needs for its branch system, A.G. Edwards was among the first brokerage firms to go public. On November 1971, 445,000 shares of stock were offered to the public at $12 a share. [3] As of March 29, 2007, the company served its clients through its branch-office networks staffed with 6,618 financial consultants, managing $374 billion in total client assets, and $44 billion in fee-based accounts. During its fiscal year 2007, ending February 28th, A.G. Edwards had net revenues of $3,110,500,000 and net earnings of $331,400,000.[4] On May 31, 2007, the company announced that it would be acquired by Wachovia Corporation in a $6.8 billion deal. The acquisition closed on October 1, 2007. Following the merger, Wachovia eliminated the A. G. Edwards brand in favor of Wachovia Securities. On December 31, 2008, Wachovia Corporation was purchased by Wells Fargo & Co after the bank was nearly taken over by the FDIC. The failure of the sub-prime market eventually caused its collapse. On July 1, 2009, Wachovia Securities was renamed Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Investments, which included the former A.G. Edwards business lines. Excerpts courtesy of Wikipedia
Oil on Steel, Observational Findings July 24 - August 22 2010 On the Road
I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling
Shape of one egg laid by Shinnecock Family Flock Hen on July 11, 2010: digital photograph of egg doubled, one image flipped and both traced then cut from steel which was painted in oil.
Fabricated by Sammy Djulamerovic Oil on steel. 1/10
(close-up view) Looking through the cut out shapes of one egg doubled, exhibited in a room painted "eggshell white", this site specific work provides a view of cars passing a car dealership, relating our dependency on oil to the plight of fowl.
The International Bird Rescue Research Center reports that " The number of dead birds collected on the Gulf Coast has more than doubled in the past month as oil from BP's broken deepwater well continues to wash up on islands and beaches rich in bird colonies." Statistics according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service: 1403 birds collected alive; 2710 birds collected dead; 553 birds released alive.
Left: Two Eggs Observational Findings January 2010 I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio Shinnecock Hills spacetime
Below: Close up view of two eggs creates by the Shinnecock Family Flock Hens under Glass Bell Jar
Converse I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio spacetime
2010 Mixed Media. 1/1
Mother and child House Wrens were found dead in a locked shed, placed on tissue printed "converse" (packaged with Converse Sneakers).
(close up) Acknowledging that birds naturally maintain a balanced insect population by establishing a Southampton Town program re-introducing native Guinea Fowl.
CONVERSELY: Southampton Animal Control enacted onerous restrictions on backyard Fowl, including forcing them indoors overnight in light-tight “coops”. Jeopardizing the health and safety of endangered Fowl, such as Sandrow’s Padovana (aka Paduans aka Polish) who, not long ago roosted safely in trees, roamed the Shinnecock Hills freely alongside Native Americans.
Endangered Species
I couldn’t stop...the sky from falling open air studio spacetime
1/1 Native Indian Prickly Pear (Opuntia) found entangled in deteriorated Pool Hose, Gissa Bu Shinnecock Hills, Mushroom, Honey Bee, European Wasp under Bell Jar;
Cultivar Thornless Prickly Pear (Opuntia) in ground;
Reclaimed creosote soaked wood fabricated pedestal Marc Fasanella
Installation, On & Off The Ground, Longhouse Preserve, East Hampton New York 2011
The "creation" of Thornless Prickly Pear (Opuntia) by plant breeder Luther Burbank (1849-1926), author of "How Plants are Trained to Work for Man", is described by W.S. Harwood in his book "New Creations in Plant Life", 1905:
"when Burbank turned to the Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia) which he was to spend more than ten years of study, it was in the main, a stubborn, irreconcilable foe to the race. In order to make it a friend of man, its whole nature must be changed; it must be re-created."
Thornless-ness is in part genetically controlled, but also environmentally: when Thornless Prickly Pear are stressed enough they will often produce thorns. (above)
(above) June 25, 2011: Listen to Dominique Browning, author of the blog Personal Nature on all things Environmental
http://blogs.edf.org/personalnature/
describe Untitled (Endangered Species) as “speaking to a lost world....” awarding “Best in Show”
