Bernheim Nest
2012
The Bernheim Nest was constructed and installed during my artist-in-residence at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in the winter of 2011-2012.
I built a functional human nest under the speculative limitations of a post-consumer world where all that remains is the waste of our former civilization and a mass exodus back into the forest for survival. I used all found materials and tools I already owned. Over 5 months I constructed the nest out of layers of corrugated cardboard, wire, foam, and aluminum cans. The cans were cut and flattened, then folded into the layers of board like shingles.
The nest was installed in a Chinkapin Oak tree near the edge of the Great Prairie at Bernheim. I spent one night in the nest at the end of the residency and documented the experience using photography. After the summer slowly degraded the nest through exposure to moisture, insects and mold I deconstructed the nest and recycled the materials.
