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[Music]

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my name is danielle siemens and i am the

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collections manager and curatorial

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associate at the art gallery of alberta

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today we are celebrating earth day by

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looking at one work from our collection

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by the edmonton-based artist lindell

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osborne

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lindell osborne has long been interested

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in issues related to the environment

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and we believe this work titled

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archipelago is particularly well suited

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to this year’s earth day theme

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which is together we can restore our

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earth

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in this incredible installation osborne

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is specifically commenting on

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issues of genetic modification and the

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powers of the global biotechnology

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industry

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so she is interested in how genetic

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modification and engineering

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are shrinking the earth’s biodiversity

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and is concerned that we as consumers

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are not well informed about gmo foods

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about seed patterning about the

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chemicals in our agriculture

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and the long-term effects of that on the

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environment and our bodies

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in this installation lindell osborne is

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getting down to the molecular level

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where the manipulation of plant life

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takes place

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she’s created cells at gigantic

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proportions

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16 of them in total throughout the

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installation

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and she’s made them out of materials

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that she’s gathered from nature

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such as sunflower stalks or grapefruit

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skins

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that she has manipulated and organized

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to allude to the structures of a cell

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and then over top of these cells she’s

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used wire and colored glass beads

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to represent the structures of dna

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and then floating on top are these other

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objects that represent the pathogens

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that contaminate or are injected into

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the cell

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she’s also used materials from the realm

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of science

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such as bunsen burners or other glass

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glassware from laboratories and this is

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a nod to the manipulation

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of plants that takes place within the

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lab

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running throughout the entire

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installation is this river-like form

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which osborne has constructed from these

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tiny

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little gardens so it gives a sense of a

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kind of never-ending river

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running throughout the countryside

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specifically

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this is a representation or a reference

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to the north saskatchewan river in

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edmonton which runs throughout the

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entire city

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and at one point comes very near the

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artist’s own home

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and it’s a kind of reminder to the

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viewer to not pollute

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our waterways the life source that fuels

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us

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humans and the plants and animals around

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us

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those miniature garden forms also

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reference the

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biodiversity that we are at risk of

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losing or are already in process of

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losing

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through humans technological

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interference

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so lindell osborne is an artist who has

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long been interested in issues in the

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environment

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and climate change and she understands

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that it will take a radical shift in

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human behavior to alter the course of

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events

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her work has the remarkable ability to

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incite viewers to

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think carefully about their own

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environment and their place within it

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and she asks us to treat the world with

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respect and care to ensure the

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well-being of our future generations

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so thank you for joining us for this

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earth day feature if you’re interested

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in seeing more

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works from around the world that deal

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with similar issues related to the

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environment and climate change

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you can check out earthday.org

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[Music]

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you

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