A very organic looking map of the garden in Strawberry Canyon above the main Berkeley campus. The garden is a hidden treasure and we would like to raise awareness of its existence and reveal some of the secrets within this living library. The UC Botanical Garden is a non-profit research garden and museum with an important plant collection including many rare and endangered species. Established in 1890, the Garden, which is open to the public year round, has over 13,000 different kinds of plants from around the world, cultivated by region in naturalistic landscapes over its 34 acres. 'Natural Discourse: Artists, Architects, Scientists & Poets in the Garden' is a collaborative project between The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley (UCBG) and a group of multi disciplinary artists, writers and researchers. The exhibition and related events will take place over the course of a year, starting in January 2012, with the art installations opening June 2012. Cyperus papyrus plants are growing behind the tropical greenhouse at the garden. These plants are used by Donald Mastronarde to teach paper making to his students in the Department of Classical studies. This is one example of the varied research in the garden. From the Tebtunis Papyri collection at Berkeley. Nicotiana (tobacco) growing in the wild. Nicotiana was a special interest of T Harper Goodspeed, an early director of the garden The flower The result??!!! One of Goodspeed's Nicotiana specimen's at the Jepson Herbarium on campus. Sculptural forms of an opuntia cactus in the New World Desert section of the collection. Andrew Kudless 'P Wall' 2010 Hydrocal Plaster 12' x 40' SFMOMA This piece was commissioned by SFMOMA and is in their permanent collection. Detail A beautiful shot of lichen growing on a stone. Andrew Kudless proposal for weathering P Wall. Andrew would like the piece to be exposed to the elements, allowing decay and encouraging plants to grow on it. A photo of a natural beehive that was the inspiration for the sculptural shapes of the structure of Shirley Watts' design for 'A Garden of Mouthings' View of the installation 'A Garden of Mouthings' at UCBG. The piece nestles into the hillside in a lovely way and becomes a part of the collection. A view from above. 'Mouthings' was installed at UCBG in September 2011 as the beginning of the collaboration of UCBG and the 'Natural Discourse' artists. Signage about California native bees and a view of the hexagonal cast concrete seats with rein 'honey' dripping down them. Sylvia Plath's poem 'The Beekeeper's Daughter' is gold leafed onto the cast concrete table. A view of the Garden of old Roses at UCBG where Deborah O'Grady and Shirley Watts are drawing inspiration for their proposal for 'Natural Discourse' that will involve large digital graphics installed in downtown Berkeley. A rose drawing by Pierre Joseph Redouté, who was the botanical painter for the Empress Joséphine. ‘A Soldier’s Dream’ Deborah O'Grady photo collage. O'Grady is working with images and text about the immense cultural history of roses to create large-scale digital prints that will bring the imagery of the rose garden into urban Berkeley, physically connecting the garden and the city. After Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues: 'A Young Daughter of the Picts', ca. 1585. young woman with rose tattoos 'After the fire-the burning world below’ Deborah O'Grady 2009 Shirley Watts’ pavilion in the Pleasure’s garden<br/>Aluminum, plexiglass, twin wall polycarbonate, silk roses and tumbled dishes. A display case in the garden containing information about Native American use of the Coast Live Oak. 'Miniature Garden' Nami Yamamoto, 2007<br/>cut-out paper, display cases<br/>dimensions variable. 'Miniature Garden' (detail) 2007<br/>‘I collected hundreds of objects from Man-made and natural world. They can be a fragment of plastic toy, a part of artificial flower or real plants and seeds pods from nature. And the shapes are carefully traced/drawn onto paper and cut out from the paper.’ 'Radiant Flux' Nami Yamamoto 2009 The cut outs in this piece are made using hand made paper with phosphorescent dye. The piece is about the relationship of plants and light. 'Radiant Flux' Nami Yamamoto 2009 The Botanical garden entrance on a foggy day Nami and Stewart Winchester, horticulturalist. Nami's 'Fogcatcher' piece explores the relationship that redwoods have with fog. Nami Yamamoto sketch for 'Fogcatcher' Nami Yamamoto work in progress / hand netting for 'Fogcatcher' 'Prada Marfa' Rael San Fratello Architects, 2005, Minimalist structure built with earth. 2005 line of Prada shoes and bags. Location Marfa, Texas Rael San Fratello Architects Straw bale structure for Hedge Gallery at the 20/21 Design Show at Fort Mason. 2011 Rael San Fratello Architects 2011 Detail of structure with steel shelving Rael San Fratello Architects 2011 Plant detail from UCBG 'Sinkhole' Mary Anne Friel 'Eruption Study Kahn Erdman Hall' Mary Anne Friel View from the garden of the city. With her project Friel would like to connect the garden to the city that surrounds it. Concept sketch for’ Natural Discourse’ Mary Anne Friel. The proposal includes a ‘pavillion’ that frames the view of San Francisco. Pattern study Mary Anne Friel Material research 'Creep’ Gail Wight 2004 <br/>A project with the slime mold physarum polycephalum, a simple ode to the incredible beauty of its color and growth patterns. Using non-toxic dyes, the agar that the slime mold is growing on was tinted, and then its growth was taped using time-lapse digital video. 'Center of Gravity' Gail Wight 2008, <br/>‘Reminiscent of votive candles, this forest of photographic core samples are from fragile landscapes, central to my life and vulnerable to climate change. They light from within as visitors pass by.’ In the permanent collection of the San Jose <br/>Museum of Art. 'Center of Gravity' Gail Wight, 2008<br/>pigment prints on rice paper, plexiglas, lights, motion sensors10' h, variable width. The arid house at UCBG. In the 1960’s, Dr Peter Witt gave spiders various kinds of drugs and alcohol to observe the effects on the structure of their webs. Wight has used his photos to produce a series of graphite drawings burnt onto velum with with a magnifying glass. The drawings will be displayed in the arid house in relation to some of the plants there that are the base for psychotropic drugs. Caffeine’ Gail Wight 2011 'Marijuana’ Gail Wight 2011 'Mescaline’ Gail Wight 2011 ‘Peril as Architectural Enrichment’ by Hazel White. Hazel will team with fellow poet Denise Newman for a poetry project involving the garden signage. 'Endangered Species’ Todd Gilens 2011 Public buses in San Francisco were wrapped with images of indigenous endangerd species 'Endangered Species’ Todd Gilens 2011 'Endangered Species’ Todd Gilens 2011 The garden of crops of the world and the lath house at UCBG the site for Todd Gilens project. Todd Gilens is proposing mounting images on the lath house 'Soft Epic,or: Savages of the Pacific West’ Nadia Hironaka , Matt Suib, installation view of 100 foot long video projection. Possible site for a Suib Hironaka video projection Garden Director Paul Licht tangling with a ferocious western fence lizard. The have been studied for their relationship to ticks and Lyme Disease and like other critters that spend time or live in the garden they can be very territorial.
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