In the Garden
Aside from his ongoing Florida is Nature project, Pinecrest Gardens artist-in-residence Xavier Cortada has created other permanent participatory art projects and ritualistic installations onsite at Pinecrest Gardens, South Florida’s Cultural Arts Park. To schedule an environmental art-based field trip for your classroom or co-op, please contact Lacey Bray, educational programs coordinator, at lbray@pinecrest-fl.gov. Pinecrest Gardens is located at 11000 SW 57th Avenue, Pinecrest, FL.
Longitudinal Installation
The Longitudinal Installation at Pinecrest Gardens:
(Coming in the fall:) Cortada created the Longitudinal Installation in the South Pole in 2007 and in the North Pole in 2008. During both visits, Cortada placed 24 shoes in a circle, each aligned across 24 longitudes. He stopped in front of each of his longitudinal shoe markers and read a quote aloud that revealed a person’s experience with climate change from that part of the world. His artistic ritual illustrated how everyone in the world has been profoundly impacted by climate change.
The South Pole’s Longitudinal Installation has been replicated as a ceramic sculpture on permanent exhibit at Pinecrest Gardens. This participatory art installation invites visitors to recite the 24 quotes, as Cortada did at both ends of the world.
To perform the ritual, stand behind the show marked with zero degrees and face the red and white pole as you read the first quote. (You can find the quotes online at www.longitudinalinstallation.org.) Then, move clockwise, stopping at each marked shoe to read its respective quote. Upon completion, stand just to the left of the 75 degree West shoe (if you live in Florida) and recite a 25th quote: Your own quote!
How has climate change impacted your environment?
If you perform the ritual, we invite you to document the performance with photos and video, and upload it to www.longitudinalinstallation.org
Greeting each new season
Please join us for the performance of the Longitudinal Installation as we greet each new season
Winter Solstice performance: Thursday Dec 21, 2017 at 10:30 am
Spring Equinox performance: Tuesday March 20, 2018 at 10:30 am
Summer Solstice performance: Thursday June 21, 2018 at 10:30 am
Fall Equinox performance: Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 10:30 am
Native Flags
The Longitudinal Installation at Pinecrest Gardens:
With the 2017 Earth Day Festival planting of a green flag and wild coffee garden by our Village’s elected officials, Pinecrest Gardens became a a host site of Cortada’s Native Flags participatory eco-art project. Cortada developed this reforestation effort to help restore native habitats for plants and animals in urban areas. Participating residents are asked to plant a native tree alongside the green project flag in their front yard and state:
“I hereby reclaim this land for nature.”
The project’s conspicuous green flags serve as a catalyst for conversations with neighbors, who will be encouraged to join the effort and help rebuild our native tree canopy. Native Flags also partners with the Deering Estate, Florida International University, Frost Science Museum, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools to engage residents across the entire County.
To learn more please visit the Native Flags website at www.nativeflags.org
Flor500
(Coming in the spring:) Additionally, Xavier is working with Pinecrest Gardens to continue to grow FLOR500, a participatory art, nature and history project profiling 500 flowers, artists and gardens of Florida. FLOR500 will be incorporated into the site of our future Learning Garden, and will offer participatory components which tie in native wildflowers, history and art. “Each of us has a role in helping shape Florida’s natural history,” said Cortada. “We can help reclaim nature, one yard at a time, by planting wildflower gardens to support our pollinators.”
For more information on FLOR500, please visit www.flor500.com