Threshold: Surveying the Domestic Wild
Threshold: Surveying the Domestic Wild – 2013 | Site Specific Installation on the Campus of Marylhurst University south of Portland, Oregon.
Threshold: Surveying the Domestic Wild is a large-scale sculptural installation on the campus of Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon by artist Paula Rebsom. It consists of a large-scale viewing blind constructed along the edge of a wildlife corridor that surrounds the campus. In the center of the wall is an open doorway where an existing animal trail, frequented by deer and other wildlife, leads in and out of the forest. A live camera feed records the site 24/7. (Please note, the live camera feed is no longer available. See below for video stills of recorded human and animal activity.)
The Live Feed Camera was housed in this open doorway.
Artist Statement: Threshold: Surveying the Domestic Wild is a large-scale sculptural installation on the Marylhurst University campus built to call attention to wildlife populations that live and thrive among us. It consists of a large-scale viewing blind constructed along the edge of a wildlife corridor that surrounds the campus. In the center of the wall is an open doorway where an existing animal trail, frequented by deer and other wildlife, leads in and out of the forest. A website* will give viewers unable to physically engage with the structure 24/7 access to live streaming video of the site along with a selection of time-lapse and motion sensor captured images. The cameras will not only provide an opportunity to capture real-time movement of animals they will also act as a conceptual lens that frames the moment of transition when the invisible become visible by stepping out of the wild into the domes-tic. Collectively these documents will explore the presence of wild animals, their habits, and human behaviors in response to their presence in our domesticated landscape and the ways in which these relationships change over extended periods of time. The project fuses art, ecology, and the use of technology to promote conversations across disciplines regarding built vs. natural environments, domestic and wild spaces, human/animal interactions, and virtual interfaces for experiencing the natural world.
*Please Note this project is no longer collecting live images. An archive of images is available at www.domesticwild.com
