BrooklynModern

by Daniel Sommer, Contributor

To many, trailer parks conjure images of poverty and undesirable living conditions. Brooklyn artist Kim Holleman challenges these misconceptions in Trailer Park, part of the Bushwick Biennial on view now at NutureArt Gallery. In the piece, Holleman turned the inside of a former camper into a live and growing public park. BrooklynModern recently caught up with Holleman inside her trailer and spoke with her about her work.

“I lived in a trailer when I was a young child, and I could always see to the other side of it. I always knew where my parents were, it was very cozy, it was very enclosed, it was a perfect oasis, and enclosed bubble…When we moved out of the trailer into our gigantic house, everything went awry. (This upbringing) give me the insight other people aren’t going to have.”

Holleman used her construction and fabricating background to turn a trailer into a fertile oasis, challenging ones expectation of what the object holds within. Replanting the trailer every spring, the plants themselves are found objects. Each one was found growing in Brooklyn and was transferred to the custom designed planting beds.

Also on view, Kim Holleman’s The View is a theoretical core sample of what the ground we live on has become. The hanging glass case contains a mini ecosystem, complete with living plants and bugs, but also toxins and pollutants. Over the life of the piece, the ecosystem has begun purifying the toxins and regaining control over the toxins.

The Bushwick Biennial includes shows throughout Brooklyn. Information can be found at www.bushwickbiennial.com

For more information on NUTUREart, see www.nurtureart.org.