Gudrun Lock: Greening the Margins
Gudrun Lock. Photo courtesy of the artist
Shoreham Train Yards is a 230-acre train, trucking and bulk-distribution site in Northeast Minneapolis owned by Canadian Pacific Railway since 1888. Since May of 2019, artist Gudrun Lock has been speaking with industry, the public and researchers about planting a dense vegetation barrier between Shoreham Train Yards and residential housing in Northeast Minneapolis. The question of using living beings as mediators between industry and residents is very complex, involving scientific, cultural and ethical questions at once. To explore these complexities, Lock is interested in developing conversations with atmospheric chemists, hydrologists, soil, forestry and geo-engineering researchers, as well as folklorists, tribal elders and anthropologists to create new thinking around pollution, biodiversity, land use and the role of storytelling in shaping our relationship to the natural world. We invite anyone who is interested in being involved in this project to reach out to us.
In the Galleries — January 19 – May 15, 2022
Lock has collaborated with a team of artists, scientists, makers, and naturalists to create an installation featuring the interdisciplinary cohort’s ongoing research and creative explorations into the buffers of an active 230-acre train and trucking facility in Northeast Minneapolis, called Shoreham Yards. Both polluted and full of life, the buffers interface in dynamic ways with the neighborhoods surrounding them, and are potent sites of potential transformation.