Rachael Marne Jones • Artaxis.org

This is a sculptural diagram of the bisection of the MT Granite Design Seed Bank. It exhibits the double walled, inner seed capsule that helps to regulate the seed's temperature (which should stay around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit when buried below permafrost). The Seed Bank Project is a multi-era, multi-disciplinary project meant to span decades, cultures and (hopefully) climate phenomena here on planet earth. Hand-made, double-walled porcelain seed vessels are given out to collaborators, who then fill them with seeds that have precious ecological and culturalsignificance to the region in which they call home. The banks are completely autonomous from human maintenance, meaning theyare specifically designed to control the interior seed capsule’s humidity, light and temperature when buried below permafrostutilizing both ancient and modern technologies. The screw top cap is sealed with beeswax to ensure no moisture or light can reach the seeds. This sustains the seed’s ability to stay viable for as long as its’ DNA will allow.

This bank was buried next to the Dearborn River, (in between Helena and Great Falls MT) containing Yarrow, Prickly Pear cactus, Ponderosa Pine & Bunch Grass- all native to the semiarid region. The banks are buried in-situ, where the seeds were harvested andacclimated to grow and become a cultural and ecological marker of what is, and inevitably, what once was. In return, photodocumentation, information and the location are shared on a public resource data-base, joining a myriad of banks scattered allover planet Earth. These vessels arose from a welling sense of solastalgia, and a desire to think about artwork beyond its’primary context. The root of the project stems from an admiration of clay’s inherent ability to bring people together, the desire topromote active local ecological awareness, and a sort of reckoning with the unknown. See where more banks have been buried all over the world here:http://www.rachaelmarnejones.com/sbp.html

$The mining power line Insulator fragment was found up the East Boulder River in MT. The rock it is emerging from/sinking into,was found just 100 yards from the fragment, which is formally, eerily similar. This area was mined for gold, silver, nickel, copper, lead and chromite, two of which (copper and silver) being the best conductors for transmitting electric power, due to a high number of free electrons."Knap": noun- The Crest of a hill. Transitive Verb- Knapping is the shaping of flint, chert, obsidian or other conchoidal fracturing stone through the process of lithic reduction to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls, and flushwork decoration.$

Each individual piece was extruded out of a ketchup bottle onto a plaster slab, fired, then hiked into location sandwiched between layers of cloth in a backpack and then installed on location. These forms are inspired by Lichen, which has been used as a natural indicator of air quality around the world- it’s growth indicates a healthy air quality and it’s death indicates poor air quality. They exist as a symbiotic organism between cyanobacteria and fungus. Thought to be harmful to trees, they (usually) have no adverse affects, only using them as perches to gain better access to sunlight. They can benefit the tree by absorbing atmospheric moisture for the tree to absorb and when decompose, provide more complex nutrients to the soil. By looking at indicators found in nature, our species can become more aware of our affects on the environment and can better model symbiotic relationships.

Wayfinding, or using landmarks to orient oneself in the landscape is ubiquitous among most cultures, and rock stacks (cairns) have been found all over the earth. These stacks mark trails of passage, signify burials, have been used as a defense mechanism, and mark buried items. The size and shape often vary from quite small to monumental. I am interested in this particular interaction between humans and the natural world because of the indication of both geologic and (Darwin's idea of) "quick" time. I imagine the time it takes to build these as a small blip in the lifespan of this rock's formal self. The stacks are both precarious and solid. They mark paths, and the kinship between travelers.In recent times, it has been noted that they have become a fad, and are actually damaging to ecologically sensitive regions. The tension existing around these forms give me pause for reflection. The imbedded insulator fragments in the stacks are a node to how the industrial revolution and the rise of technology have changed the trajectory of our understanding of place and wayfinding.

A quiet moment of contemplation for what we leave behind. In my own practice, I have been inquiring as to how my methods and aesthetic can become more sensitive to the "7 generations" ideology. This piece utilizes post-consumer glass, and "left overs" from other sculptural and installation based explorations.

I like to use the repetition of objects by re-contextualizing them into new and unexpected contexts. Here, I imagine an entire landscape or mountain range within a petri dish. Their are both micro and macro implications to each and every decision.Running a small studio, I am constantly challenged with how to guide student's material handling/disposal in a way that is safe and ecologically mindful. This piece utilizes a scrap/ hard pan glaze that would probably normally be disposed of. It is a constant balancing act for me when assigning aesthetic choices to material consumption, and I realize that their is no perfect system to satisfy the needs of my creative endeavors with my ecological footprint. For me, awareness is key, and beginning to start this dialogue with the next generation of makers, so they too can begin to think critically about their material consumption as an artist. The open pit and underground mining of heavy metals world-wide has been well documented in its ability to destroy both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. How can we reduce our consumption without compromising our ideas? When is it ok to compromise (on either end)?

Plastiglomerate no. 2 is part of the "New Geology" Series, exploring how post-consumer objects shape our narratives as a species. This piece, in particular, focuses on the use of vibrant colors, familiar, domestic shapes and crystalline glazes for opulence. I wanted to create a sense of tension between the beauty of entanglement, confusion and degradation while still utilizing the geologic metamorphosis of human-made materials as a sort of analogy for the ecological and socio-political crisis we are in as a global community.

Plastiglomerate No. 1 (Origin Story) is part of my new sculptural series titled, "New Geology". This series dives deep into the implications of humankind's utilization, and normalization of the fossil fuel industry, in particular, how it has manifested itself in the objects we use every day. As more and more plastic arrives on beaches across the planet, we struggle with how to dispose of the predisposed. Many communities have resorted to burning the plastics right on the beach, resulting in a fascinating new conglomerate material composed of melted plastics, sand, seashells, seaweed, driftwood and other detritus known as plastiglomerate. As plastics go through a "quick time" metamorphosis, they begin to resemble the geologic processes that reclaim earth's elemental building blocks. These lil ducks embedded in "Plastiglomerate No. 1 (Origin Story) are a nod to the “Moby-Duck” event in 1992, when a shipping container slid off a cargo ship, spilling 28,800 bath toys into the sea. Although an ecological disaster, it is interesting how this mishap actually helped oceanographers model ocean currents, with more specimens to track then ever release before in the name of science (albeit accidentally).

As human-kind continues to produce petroleum based products, I am interested in how these products evolve formally. Once the bones of prehistoric life and the vascular tissues of old growth forests, the carbon has changed appearance, continually evolving through states of solid, gas and liquid. Human-kinds' engineering of plastics was an intentional modification, while the conglomerate of such post-consumer products seems analogous to a more geologic process of reclamation. How do the forms we choose to make these products into quietly whisper our intentions? How do they speak of our collective narrative? What stories get left behind in the process of conglomeration?

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Statement

Through empty pockets, negative skins, trace fossils of life long past, we glean a glimpse of what once was, within the void. What objects, what formal voids will tell our story?

The bits of modern detritus, geo-teric landscapes and anachronous technologies that reveal the vast discrepancies within a world where capitalism’s breath is both hollow and colossal, tapping the pulse of every living being on this planet. Built up, and broken down, teetering on the edge of an existence so fragile that a silent wind seems to threaten what once felt rooted and stable beneath our outstretched palms?

A Serendipitous discovery of an curious origin; the archeological quality of clay compels the forms I make, and interactions that they evoke. When language fails to explain the nuances of material intimacy, clay & replication provides a platform for understanding humankind’s deep emotional history with our environment and the objects we surround ourselves with.

Particles come from the earth, deep histories already embedded; once again broken down, reworked, and polished into something new-passing through our hands, leaving our bodies, to return to the earth. How will these engineered reconstructions inherently alter the essence of their particles’ cycles? What small epiphanies can be revealed from what we hold, build and break with our fingertips? And what of the oily prints we leave behind? Who will be the ones to piece together the stories of our negative skins, whispering in the wind?

Using the remains of intention to construct a path through the future, I use casting and replication as a form of meditation to explore quiet moments left in the wake of human-kinds’ simultaneously ambitious and destructive drive to evolve, piloted by a deep sense of solastalgia.

The Seed Bank Project:
The Seed Bank Project is a multi-era, multi-disciplinary project meant to span decades, cultures and (hopefully) climate phenomena here on planet earth. Hand-made, double-walled porcelain seed vessels are given out to collaborators, who then fill them with seeds that have precious ecological and cultural significance to the region in which they call home. The banks are completely autonomous from human maintenance, meaning they are specifically designed to control the interior seed capsule’s humidity, light and temperature when buried below permafrost utilizing both ancient and modern technologies. This sustains the seed’s ability to stay viable for as long as its’ DNA will allow. They are buried in-situ, where the seeds were harvested and acclimated to grow and become a cultural and ecological marker of what is, and inevitably, what once was. In return, photo documentation, information and the location are shared on a public resource data-base, joining a myriad of banks scattered all over planet Earth. These vessels arose from a welling sense of solastalgia, and a desire to think about artwork beyond its’ primary context. The root of the project stems from an admiration of clay’s inherent ability to bring people together, the desire to promote active local ecological awareness while sowing hope for the future, and as a sort of reckoning with the unknown.

— Rachael Marne Jones

Bio

Rachael Marne is a ceramic and Mixed Media Collaborative artist, born and raised in Helena, Montana, graduating from University of Montana with her BFA (2011). She did her Post-bacc at Louisiana State University, and received her MFA at Montana State University (2018). Her work has taken her to many exciting places such as the Bayou of Louisiana, the rainforests of Brazil and the Glacial Fields of the Cordillera Blanca in Peru. The diverse ecologies of these places have influenced her drive to understanding the fluxious nature of Earth’s balancing act, and has sparked a deep curiosity within her to understanding humankind’s inevitable variability within the larger system. She is the founder of The Seed Bank Project (2017-ongoing) and was the first artist to attend the Global Sustainability Fellows Program this summer at the Arava Institute for Ecological Studies in Israel (led by the Sustainability Laboratory of New York). She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY where she teaches ceramics & drawing, and continues her studio practice.