Last Thursday was abuzz for the opening of Fritz Haeg: At Home in the City, which saw the gathering of local food producers, artists, and enthusiasts of all things made in the home, garden, and museum.
The exhibition is the most comprehensive display to-date of Haeg’s Domestic Ingtegrities A05 which contains the recently expanded crocheted rug, an archive of preserved food and processed organic material from other sites where Haeg has worked, a work space in which to prepare things coming into the gallery from the outdoors, and a giant wall-sized map of the Twin Cities metro area where visitors can locate community gardens, co-ops, CSAs, and their front or backyard gardens.
The night presented an opportunity to recognize our community partners who are working to expand the Twin Cities’ ability to grow, process, distribute, eat, and compost more healthy, sustainable, locally grown (or foraged) foods. Jane Shey, Coordinating Consultant for Homegrown Minneapolis and Ginger Cannon, Outreach and Research Planner at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board gave opening remarks before the premiere of the Edible Estate #15 documentary.
A key concept guiding the project is the interconnectedness between the wild, the garden, and the home. The opening event intentionally drew a line between the Foraging Circle, Haeg’s recently commissioned work in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and the domestic realm of the exhibition, with the help of Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad of BodyCartography Project. Together with a team of 9 dancers, they artfully led a procession of plants from the Foraging Circle into the gallery and delivered bread and spreads from the exhibition outside to the Foraging Circle with some unexpected moves along the way.
Interns Brett Baldauf and Bridget Mendel were on hand to serve the breads and spreads made by Birchwood Cafe while Verdant Tea‘s Brandon Lovejoy handed out cups of his delicious tea infusion concoction. Ingredients for the spreads and infusions reflected the plants growing in Edible Estate #15 and Foraging Circle.
Fritz reunited with his friends and fellow Angeleno artists, Mark Allen and Emily Joyce outside the Foraging Circle. Allen and his organization Machine Project were the 2011 Open Field artists-in-residence.
The Schoenherr family and proud owners of Edible Estate #15 were all smiles. They were the stars of the evening, as was their beautiful cabbage that was prominently displayed at the center of the rug for opening night.
Get Walker Reader in your inbox. Sign up to receive first word about our original videos, commissioned essays, curatorial perspectives, and artist interviews.
)