Camp Out: Finding Home in an Unstable World

Camp Out: Finding Home in an Unstable World looks at different ways in which the dream of home has imploded over the past three decades, and how new forms of home might be fashioned in their stead. The exhibition explores our current struggles and hopes to provide alternative ways of viewing nature and landscape through the built environment using a variety of approaches including: a pot luck party for neighbors complete with eggs from a chicken coop; a vegetable allotment, a tear drop tent clamped to a tree; a livable cocoon made of plastic bags and duct tape; repurposed industrial waste receptacles; quasi-functional wearable housing; ruin porn and a massive Plexiglas fire.

Highlights include Dutch artist Dré Wapenaar turns the traditional, wholesome experience of camping on its head with his futuristic Treetent (2005), which has entered Laumeier's collection. Instead of the quintessential pop-up tents used in camping grounds, Wapenaar's teardrop-shaped structure attaches to a tree and resembles a bug's pod.

This spirit of creating shelter in our natural environs for practical and social reasons is also reflected in the work of Chicago-based, Iraqi-American, Michael Rakowitz. His paraSITE, a cocoon made of plastic bags and duct tape, not only highlights the fragility of life outdoors, but makes visible the invisible homeless population living among us.

Operating from the perspective of Laumeier as "the green heart of Sunset Hills, Missouri," artist Kim Yasuda is working with residents to position Laumeier as a steward among friends and neighbors. She calls her process "hunting and gathering." Her community garden and chickens will provide food for the community throughout the summer and for the potluck on September 7.

The use of clothing as shelter is seen in Liverpool-based artist Emily Speed's work, Inhabitant (St. Louis) (2012), which was influenced by her time spent in St. Louis prior to the opening of the exhibition and takes on characteristics of the local architecture.

London-based artist Oliver Bishop-Young's project, Skip Conversions, elevates the idea of dumpster diving to an art form. Laumeier commissioned Bishop-Young to design a new Skip Conversion, titled High Rise (2012), a dumpster stacked with discarded furniture and packed with twigs, leaves, and dirt found in the park that provides an alternate nesting place for birds, insects, and other native animals.

This exhibition and the art it includes create awareness about culture, community, and the many variations of a home. More importantly, the exhibition investigates how the public views home and how we live on and use Laumeier Sculpture Park's largest asset: 105 acres of Missouri Woodland.

Participating artists BGL (Jasmin Bilodeau, Sébastien Giguère, Nicolas Laverdière), Oliver Bishop-Young, Cyprien Gaillard, Isabelle Hayeur, Edgar Martins, Mary Mattingly, Michael Rakowitz, Emily Speed, Dré Wapenaar, Kim Yasuda

Curated by Marilu Knode, Executive Director and Dana Turkovic, Curator of Exhibitions.

Funding for Laumeier Sculpture Park has been provided by St. Louis County Parks, the Missouri Arts Council, the Regional Arts Commission, and the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis.

Camp Out:
Finding Home in an Unstable World
Kuratoren: Marilu Knode, Dana Turkovic

Künstler: BGL  (Jasmin Bilodeau, Sebastien Giguere, Nicolas Laverdiere), Oliver Bishop-Young, Cyprien Gaillard, Isabelle Hayeur, Edgar Martins, Mary Mattingly, Michael Rakowitz, Emily Speed, Dre Wapenaar, Kim Yasuda