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Hemlock Hospice
Art/Science Installation & Exhibition by David Buckley Borden
On view (in the field and Fisher Museum)
from October 7, 2017 to November 18, 2018.
Presented by David Buckley Borden (Desginer-in-residence), Aaron Ellison (Senior Ecologist), and Salua Rivero (2017 summer undergraduate intern)
Download brochure to self-guide through the field exhibit (free and open to the public all year long)
Learn more about guided tours of the exhibition (available Tu, Th, Fri, Sat for group sizes under 25)
Hemlock Hospice is an art-science collaboration between David Buckley Borden, 2016-2017 artist and designer in residence at the Harvard Forest, and Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison. It features innovative art installed in the Fisher Museum and along a new interpretative walking trail, focused on eastern hemlock, a foundation tree in eastern forests that is slowly vanishing from North America as it is weakened and killed by a small insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid.
Hemlock Hospice blends science, art, and design in respecting hemlock and its ecological role as a foundation forest species; promoting an understanding of the adelgid; and encouraging empathetic conversations among all the sustainers of and caregivers for our forests—ecologists and artists, foresters and journalists, naturalists and citizens—while fostering social cohesion around ecological issues.
Hemlock Hospice is more than an art-science collaboration; it is also an educational initiative. Associated public workshops and print and social media are available to promote reflection, critical thinking, and creativity among scientists, artists, educators, humanists, and the general public. A diverse group of media partners will bring the concepts to a broad range of people in and outside the arts and sciences. Download the press release.
“As scientists, we envision welcoming artists into the lab and field so that they can help us communicate our scientific findings and their importance to broader audiences of non-scientists. But collaborations between artists and scientists really go both ways. Working with David on Hemlock Hospice is pushing me and the other scientists who work at Harvard Forest to revisit and re-frame the questions we ask and the hypotheses we test about how forests work.” - Aaron Ellison, Senior Ecologist Harvard Forest, Harvard University
Lectures and Exhibits
NOW: PROPOSED FUTURES: THEN AND NOW exhibit on view March 30 - May 17, 2018 at Urbano Project (29 Germania St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130). Artist installtion tour on April 5th at 6pm. Reception April 25th from 6-8pm. Hemlock Hospice Artist Talk on May 11th at 6pm.
Upcoming Lectures: Hemlock Hospice: Landscape Ecology, Art, and Design
- May 1, 2018 - Third Paradise, Melbourne, Victoria, Austrailia
- May 6, 2018 - Broto Conference, Provincetown, MA
- May 10, 2018 - Maine Audubon, Falmouth, ME
- May 11, 2108 - Urbano Project, Jamica Plain, MA
- May 29, 2018 - Athol Public Library. Athol, MA
- September 19, 2018 - Le Laboratoire Cambridge, Cambridge, MA
Under Development:
- Boston Society of Architects (talk)
- Harvard Forest (closing events)
Past:
- Ohio State University: Science and Technology Studies, Columbus, OH - April 6, 2018
- Exhibit: Warming Warning Walk at Shifting Sites group exhibition, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI - March 5-19, 2018
- Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI - February 27, 2018
- Northeastern University: School of Architecture, Boston, MA - February 8, 2018
- Harvard University: Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA - February 6, 2018
- Hampshire College: Cole Science Center, Amherst, MA - February 2, 2018
- Smith College: Hillyer Art Library, Northhampton, MA - February 1, 2018
Media Coverage
- Orion Magazine, Spring 2018 - Honoring Trees
- Landscape Architecture Magazine, February 2018 - Art, Ecology, and Technology Meet in Two Harvard University Landscapes
- Hyperallergic Newsletter, January 2018 - A Forest Elegy for the Rapidly Vanishing American Hemlock Tree
- Boston Globe, December 2017 - Hemlock Hospice is an elegy for the dying New England hemlock forest
- OnEarth, November 2017 - A Hospice for Hemlocks? Art Installation Wrestles with the Loss of an Iconic Tree
- Harvard Graduate School of Design News, November 2017 - Forest for the Trees: exploring the unexpected interplay of art, history, and science at Harvard Forest
- Earther.com, October 2017 - An Art Installation in the Massachusetts Woods Sheds Light on Hemlock's Dying Days
- Take Magazine, October 2017 - Hemlock Hospice: Art Meets Ecology
- Worcester Telegram, October 2017 - Harvard Forest Presents an Homage to the Hemlock
- Range Magazine, Summer 2017 - Warning Signs
- Harvard Gazette, March 2017 - Creative Path through Harvard Forest
- Art & Design: Profile of David Buckley Borden
- Tell New England, June 2017 - Art in the Forest
- Neue Gulid Interview, April 2017 - Q & A Interview with David Buckley Borden
Hemlock Hospice on Social Media
Exhibit Opening Photos
Click on images for a larger view
(Browse more high-res event photos)
Examples of David Buckley Borden's Hemlock Hospice work at Harvard Forest
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![[Exchange Tree, one of twelve Hemlock Hospice installations at Harvard Forest, 8 x 10 x 12.5 feet, wood and acrylic paint, 2017. Collaborators: David Buckley Borden, Dr. Aaron Ellison, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, and Salua Rivero.]](/sites/harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/files/DBB-HF-Exchange-Tree-2.JPG)
![[Fast Forward Future, installation at Harvard Forest, 4 x 8 x 26 feet, wood, acrylic paint, and assorted hardware, 2017. Collaborators: Jack Byers, Dr. Aaron Ellison, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, and Salua Rivero.]](/sites/harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/files/DBB-HF-HH-Fastforwardfutures-1.JPG)
![[Wayfinding Barrier, No.3, 1 x 4 x 4 feet, wood, aluminum tape, acrylic paint, assorted hardware, and recycled ant nests, 2017. Collaborators: Dr. Aaron Ellison and Salua Rivero.]](/sites/harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/files/DBB-HH-HF-wayfinding-barrier-No3.JPG)
![[Dendro Data Stick, 5 x 7 x 30 inches, wood, aluminum tape, acrylic paint, glue, and assorted hardware, 2017. Collaborator: Dr. Aaron Ellison]](/sites/harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/files/DBB-HF-HH-data-stick.JPG)
(Explore more high-res photos of the art)
About Harvard Forest:
The Harvard Forest is a department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) of Harvard University, located in Petersham, Massachusetts. From a center comprised of 4,000 acres of land, research facilities, and the Fisher Museum, the scientists, students, and collaborators at the Forest explore the interacting physical, biological, and human systems that drive change in the New England landscape.
About David Buckley Borden
David Buckley Borden is a Cambridge-based interdisciplinary artist and designer known for his creative practice of making ecological issues culturally relevant to the general public by means of accessible art and design. David was a 2016-2017 Bullard Fellow in Forest Research at Harvard University where he explored the question, “How can art and design foster cultural cohesion around environmental issues and help inform ecology-minded decision making?”
David studied landscape architecture at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and worked with Sasaki Associates and GRound Inc., before focusing his practice at the intersection of landscape, creativity, and cultural event. David's work now manifests in a variety of forms, ranging from landscape installations in the woods to data-driven cartography in the gallery. David's place-based projects highlights both pressing environmental issues and everyday phenomena and have recently earned him residencies at the Santa Fe Art Institute, Teton Art Lab, Trifecta Hibernaculum, and Mass MoCA. Learn more about David and his work.
