in the fall we plant bulbs

Gina Badger — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:20:24 +0000

In The Fall We Plant Bulbs (2006-2007) is a video performance and an interactive urban gardening project. In the video, Badger plants a clove of garlic in the Maguire field, in Montreal’s Mile End. As an invitation to participate, Badger hands out small packages containing a clove of garlic, instructions on how to plant it, and a short love poem to the city (composed by Adam Bobbette). Bulbs has been publicly presented twice, in the fall of 2006 and 2007. The latter performance was part of Artivistic 2007, a bi-annual gathering of artists, activists, and academics, in Montreal.

Bulbs explores notions of patience, time, and care through the unique biology and evocative qualities of the bulb. The action of planting garlic is taken as a starting point for a dirt-under-the-fingernails intimacy with the city we occupy. Bulbs sees unique opportunities in the quiet spaces left in the wake of industry and in the planted soil of the city. These are part of the rich boundary zone between built and wild spaces, and Bulbs is an invitation to muck around in them.

Gina Badger is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Visual Studies at MIT. Her artistic practice involves dirt, seeds, plants, sound, video, and food, and usually makes a big mess. Images above are stills from the “In The Fall We Plant Bulbs” video.

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in the fall we plant bulbs