Detainees: alianthus altissima
With the intention to raise awareness of the treatment of Nature paralleled the treatment of detained prisoners of war or law, I performed as an fictional Detainment Officer for the fictional Invasive Species Containment Agency. During the course of a month I became ISCA Officer Taube and detained nine young specimens of the Tree Heaven, ailanthus altissima, aka the Ghetto Palm, a highly noxious and contested plant. At the beginning of each week I would ascertain the suspects from various locations around Baltimore and hold them under suspicion. I performed intelligence test, monitored their health and interrogated them for information about the “Ghetto Palm invasion.” The detention center would become a stage for my character to perform his duties, file paper work, and to give tours to visitors. Each day the detainees would be transported outdoors and chained to a public lawn to receive three hours of sunlight and water. The work developed into a public spectacle with consequences and benefits when an opposition group began to subvert the installation, liberating the plants, assaulting my character in public, leaving notes and ailanthus seeds in the space. In response to the terrorist threat Officer Taube increased security, installing a locked gate, and took away the plants sunlight and watering privileges. Detainees was discontinued on October 9th 2008.
Deteintion center enterance.
Officer Taube apprehending a juvenile delinquent in the peaceful Bolton Hill neighborhood.
The intelligence test of Detainee #007
The emotional breakdown of Officer Taube.
"Ghetto Palm" Proposal drawing for Detainees