From September 14th until October 3rd the Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture (Fonds BKVB) organised a study trip the the United States of America with as its focus the relationship between landscape and infrastructure, or the relationship between man and nature. The participants on the trip were choosen in regards to their professional and personal relationship to this subject-matter with backgrounds in architecture, landscape architecture, economics, visual arts, planology, design and history. The trip itself was divided into three zones of interests, namely: nature within the urban zone (city parks/gardens), the border between nature and man (suburbia) and finally infrastructure within nature (national park infrastructure).

The following text was as part of a weblog to which all participants of the trip contributed. My contribution was written during our stay in Chicago and surroundings which was an ideal location for the gradual evolution from the city to the wider landscape of the great American plains and prairies.

Chicago - 27 september

In this week Monday’s New York Times someone sent a letter to the editor concerning a discussion about an area of Cape Cod, Massachusetts where the great American painter Edward Hopper painted his historic series of lighthouses and seascapes. The fact that I had seen these works just three days ago - which by the way was an even more impressive experience than I had expected - sparked my interest in this article. However what quickly made things even more fascinating was the fundamental issue at hand, namely that a group of investors wanted to develop some kind of apartment complex or conglomerate of buildings to raise the turnover on this beautifully idyllic piece of American shoreline, and of course the local inhabitants vehemently disagree to this.

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My name is Corine Vermeulen, I am a Dutch photographer and I have been living in Detroit, Michigan for about two and a half years now. While most people associate Detroit with the Motor City and cars, my Detroit has mainly consisted of urban prairies and farms, of grass roots and green revolutions. Until pretty recently that is.

Urban Prairie with Peregrine Falcon, 14th Street, Detroit – 2007

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As part of the research within the Heartland territory, we invited artists, currently living in Europe, to travel to the Heartland and explore the region, its people and culture.
Otto Berchem spend about 2,5 months in Memphis. The Rhodes College, Center for the Outreach in the Development of the Arts as well as the Memphis College of Art collaborated with us in facilitating accommodation and a studio space for Berchem. Otto Berchem reported frequently about his findings and experiences in Memphis and area on this weblog.
Julika Rodelius is looking into young and ambitious political science students that want to pursue a career in the political landscape of the US. For that she is traveling between Chicago, New York as well as Washington D.C. following election campaigners and interviewing professionals and students.
Jeremiah Day will arrive in Alabama any moment soon to gather material on the history and legacy of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. From there he intends to establish a working relation with members of the Lowndes Freedom Organization. Soon we will be able to read more about his travels on this blog.
In the meantime Charles, Stephanie and I continue working on a series of works and projects to come for the first presentation of Heartland in the Van Abbemuseum and the Muziekcentrum in October in Eindhoven.

Every month, at least every month during the ’season’, the last Friday is reserved for openings, and trolley rides.

This past Friday was marked by the opening of Memphis College of Art MFA students Catherine Blackwell-Pena and John Gutierrez showing their work, as well as the launch of a project by Dwayne Butcher, for the 10th anniversary of the Urban Arts Commission.

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