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Seaweeds of the South Fork is one of several exhibits
Bravura presents with the goal to demonstrate the diversity
found in the broad and engaging discipline known as
art.
Nature has always held a close relationship with art.
Humankind has consistently looked at the natural world
for artistic inspiration for artistic expression. From
the Paleolithic era to modern times, we have wondered,
searched, and expressed ourselves through the interpretation
and understanding of our natural world.
The Western and Eastern tradition of illustrating flora
and fauna has often been relegated to an inferior place
in the “fit” of art history. Today, botanical illustrations
and herbaria are seen as artworks that deserve attention.
The added feature of their recording and/or preserving
life forms adds to the intrinsic value of illustrated
and preserved specimen collections. For centuries (other
than in Japan and China) seaweeds were neither studied
nor depicted in the corpus of Western European botanical
illustration. Seaweeds are not “weeds” in the sense
of being non-beneficial, negative plants. “Weed” is
an oft-used suffix denoting a plant as in Milkweed and
Joe Pye weed. Phycologists use the term seaweed in lieu
of “benthic marine macro-algae.”
Larry B. Liddle, Professor Emeritus, Southampton College,
Long Island University has devoted the past several
months collecting and mounting seaweeds especially for
this exhibit. Seaweeds of the South Fork can be appreciated
on both scientific and artistic levels. The seaweeds
are mounted on a plain white ground. In their marine
environment, seaweeds exist in three dimensions. As
dried and pressed specimens, they are one dimensional.
This is where Dr Liddle’s creativity comes into play.
He meticulously arranges each seaweed in an attempt
to convey how it would appear living in the water. The
process of collecting, preserving, arranging and pressing
the specimens challenges and inspires him to re-invent
and interpret nature resulting in unique works of art.
We e-mailed several questions to Dr. Liddle about the
scientific study and classification of seaweeds (phycology),
the chronology of the discipline and the locations of
major seaweed collections (herbaria). His replies follow:
Regarding Phycology:
“The first written references to algae are in ancient
Chinese classics. The Roman word fucus, from the Greek
phykos, (thus phycology) both referred to marine algae
in general until Linnaeus in 1753 described the genus
Fucus, marking the beginning of formal Latinized naming
of algae. Before that, the algae were often included
with fungi, lichens and true plants. Then in 1754 Linnaeus
applied the general name Algae to refer to the simple
aquatic plants we know as algae today.”
Regarding Herbaria:
“Besides the large collection of the British Museum
of Natural History, the other large seaweed herbarium
collections in the U.S. are at the Smithsonian Institution,
The University of California at Berkley and at the University
of Michigan. Japanese museums of Natural History have
extensive local collections as do Australia and New
Zealand.”
The Gallery will display the Larry B. Liddle herbarium
along with a selection of 19th and 20th century seaweed
illustrations as well as ceramics and glass objects
with seaweed motifs. Also on display will be a selection
of contemporary products that are made from seaweed.
We hope that the Seaweeds of the South Fork exhibition
will be aesthetically pleasing, informative and fun.
Leonard Barton, Director
August 2007
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