Invasive Irrigation Kit
According to US environmental authorities, an "invasive
species" is
an animal, plant or microbe "that is 1) non-native (or alien) to the
ecosystem under consideration and 2) whose introduction causes or is likely
to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health." It
is also defined by its success in adapting to its new environment.
LA County has a system of "Weed
Management Areas" that are made
up of landowners and public and private managers coordinated by the California
Department of Food & Agriculture. These organizations classify, monitor
and combat "noxious
weeds" (invasive plant species) within their
respective political borders.
The Temporary Travel Office has created a participatory exploration into
the political and biological ecologies surrounding these classification systems.
Of particular importance to the experience is the visualization of the social
boundaries that determine our response to both cultural and biological problems.
Are these boundaries as static as the definitions seem to suggest? For example:
Has Alligatorweed, one of California's most problematic invasive plants,
resulted in more habitat loss than Bermuda
Grass, a plant found in lawns
across the state?
Would a normally unproblematic plant like Rye Grass become a noxious
weed if it were to develop a resistance to a common herbicide like Round
Up?
Do political and
biological ecosystems effectively follow the
contours of the US border?
For this experience, The Travel Office has produced free and simple tools
- portable
drip irrigation kits - that can be placed anywhere perceived
to be in need
of green culture. The kits include Brassica
juncea (Brown Mustard) seeds, a plant known for its phytoremediation abilities - the
removal of toxins from the soil - and as an invasive weed in LA County.
With these kits, participants can juxtapose local/community innovations
for a comfortable habitat with larger, more institutional developments
of cultural environments, while reflexively raising questions of political/biological
ecology, sustainability and territorialism.
We have 10 Kits left in stock! If you'd like one, we'll send it to you (in the US) for the price of US Priority shipping + packing: 5USD.