By Tara Campbell
This piece was inspired by Tyler Barton and Erin Dorney’s
“Hidden Museum” project: https://www.fearnolit.com/the-hidden-museum
ArtWatch Magazine Exhibition Spotlight, May 2020
What: the Regardez Art Collective’s retrospective exhibition “Lettuce Free”
Where: Ace Hardware, Lawn and Garden Section
Why you should go: would you really want to admit to anyone that you missed it?
Exhibition Highlights:
Garden Soil, 2018
Soil, fertilizer beads, microbes, perlite, vermiculite, plastic
In “Garden Soil,” the self-described “mind-decolonization art collective” Regardez continues their investigation of the commodification of fertility. Here the collective gathers dirt, the space of growth, then sanitizes and re-packages it for public consumption. As their pointedly consumerist label points out, the elemental substance is “improved” with “plant food” and “sterile minerals,” controlled and stacked on shelves in packaging meant to keep the consumer free from dirt while purchasing—dirt.
Seeds, 2019
Seeds of various vegetables, paper
In “Seeds,” the “middle finger to the Man” art collective Regardez interrogates the role of corporations in determining the trajectory of human growth. In this radical act of food justice, Regardez hands the power directly to the consumer, eliminating the middle-men of commerce. Inside these unassuming paper envelopes, with their elemental-yet-sophisticated line drawings of carrots and peppers, lies the symbol of ultimate power: the power to plant and create. Within each seed hides a “radicle”: the first part of the seed to emerge, it will go on to form the root of a new life.
Watering Can, 2020
Molded plastic in shape of frog
With this simple, deceivingly innocuous design, the “Antipa” (Anti Packaged food) art collective Regardez invites us to question the role of humankind in the organic process of growth. Are we inserting ourselves in an unnatural manner by providing the element of water, rather than allowing the Earth to choose what she supports and what she does not? Will the artificially maroon hue of the frog fly in the face of Nature and doom our efforts? The only way to know is to try—and potentially fail.
Gardens, 2020
Dirt, seeds, pandemic
In their most ambitious project to date, the “eat the rich but season them first” art collective Regardez has orchestrated an extraordinary public art action they call “Gardens.” Through the medium of global pandemic, Regardez has induced mass “spontaneous” acts of gardening across the globe. The project is not without controversy, with critics debating whether the collective caused, or merely took advantage of, the worldwide health crisis. Regardez has no comment on this point.
Note: The gallery gift shop has a selection of products to help you start your own reproduction of this work at home. Now’s the time: dig in!
Tara Campbell (www.taracampbell.com) is a writer, teacher, Kimbilio Fellow, and fiction editor at Barrelhouse. She received her MFA from American University. Previous publication credits include SmokeLong Quarterly, Masters Review, Wigleaf, Jellyfish Review, Booth, Strange Horizons, and CRAFT Literary. She's the author of a novel, TreeVolution, and three collections: Circe's Bicycle, Midnight at the Organporium, and Political AF: A Rage Collection. Her fourth collection, Cabinet of Wrath: A Doll Collection, is forthcoming from Aqueduct Press in 2021.