Fritz Haeg

Infobox Artist
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name = Fritz Haeg


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birthdate = 1969
location = Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA
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nationality = American
field = Art, Architecture, Design, Gardens, Ecology, Dance, Performance
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works = Sundown Salon (2001-2006), Sundown Schoolhouse (2006-present), Edible Estates (2005-present), Animal Estates (2008 - present)
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influenced by = Buckminster Fuller, Gordon Matta Clark, Ant Farm, Anna Halprin
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Fritz Haeg (born 1969) was trained as an architect, but his current work spans a range of disciplines and media including gardens, dance, performance, design, installation, ecology and architecture, most of which is commissioned and presented by art museums and institutions. His work often involves collaboration with other individuals and site specific projects that respond to particular places.

Life and work

Haeg's recent architecture projects have included the design for various residential and art projects including the contemporary art gallery peres projects and the Bernardi residence, both in Los Angeles, CA. He studied architecture in Italy at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia and Carnegie Mellon University, where he received his B. Arch. He has variously taught in architecture, design, and fine art programs at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Art Center College of Design, Parsons School of Design, and the University of Southern California.

Haeg is based in a geodesic dome in Los Angeles, California.

Gardenlab (2000)

In 2000 he established Gardenlab, a loose umbrella for his ecology related art and design projects. This initially included community gardens for Art Center College of Design and later California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where he was an instructor.

undown Salon (2001 - 2006)

In 2000 Haeg moved into a geodesic dome in the hills of Los Angeles, California, where in 2001 he established Sundown Salon, [ [http://www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/fritz_haeg.shtml indexmagazine.com] ] a regular series of events, performances and happenings that attracted a diverse crowd, and galvanized a community of east side Los Angeles artists, designers, musicians, and performers. Those who presented work included artists Anna Sew Hoy, Yoshua Okon, Dean Sameshima, Alice Konitz, Pae White, Eve Fowler, Liz Larner, Pipilotti Rist, Katie Grinnan, and Jeff Burton; writers Slava Mogutin, Chris Abani, Trinie Dalton and Eileen Myles; and collectives My Barbarian, Los Super Elegantes, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Lesbians to the Rescue (LTTR), Robbinschilds, and Janfamily. In 2006 the Sundown Salon events came to an end, to be replaced by Sundown Schoolhouse. First based in the geodesic dome as a seasonal self-organized educational environment spanning disciplines, it is now itinerant with programming connected to Haeg's various initiatives.

Edible Estates (2005)

In 2005 he began planting a series of gardens called Edible Estates, a revival of the Victory Garden movement. Starting in the geographic center of the United States, Salina, Kansas, he selected a local family of willing gardeners to have their lawn removed and replaced with a kitchen garden, of his design. The first garden was commissioned by the Salina Art Center, with later editions in Lakewood California (2006), [Patricia Leigh Brown, [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/garden/13lawn.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "Redefining American Beauty, by the Yard"] , "The New York Times", July 13, 2006.] Maplewood, New Jersey (2007), London, England, (commissioned by Tate Modern in 2007), Austin, Texas, (commissioned by Arthouse in 2008), Baltimore, Maryland, (commissioned by Contemporary Museum Baltimore in 2008), and most recently a public demonstration garden at Descanso Gardens in La Canada - Flintridge, California. The book, "Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn", was published by Metropolis Books in spring 2008. It is a call for the replacement of the front lawn with edible landscapes, featuring examples of his previous Edible Estate gardens accompanied by essays from Diana Balmori, Michael Pollan and Rosalind Creasy.

Animal Estates (2008)

His most recent project, Animal Estates, creates homes for animals that have been displaced by humans. Each edition of the project is commissioned and presented by a local museum which includes various combinations of related performances, displays, installations, exhibitions, documentary videos, and printed materials such as a local field guide. The project debuted at the 2008 Whitney Biennial featuring a designed beaver pond in the sunken courtyard, an eagle's nest perched above the museum entry. [ [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/fritz_haeg/index.html nytimes.com] ] Later 2008 editions are in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT), San Francisco, California (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), Portland, Oregon (Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College), and Utrecht, The Netherlands (Casco Office for Art, Design and Theory).

References

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2008/03/16/style/t/index.html#pageName=16haeg New York Times: Art and Life, Steeping in a Teapot by David Coleman, March 16, 2008]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/fashion/17POSS.html?_r=1&oref=slogin New York Times T Magazine A Fertile Imagination by Susan Morgan, 2008]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/garden/26haeg.html New York Times: Spanish-Modern Mashup in Los Angeles by Michael Cannell, June 26, 2008]
* [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/535972f6-3d9b-11dd-bbb5-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1 Financial Times: Turf Wars by Simon Busch, 2008]
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-urban-farmer-one-mans-crusade-to-plough-up-the-inner-city-836358.html The Independant: The urban farmer, One man's crusade to plough up the inner city by Kate Burt, 2008]
* [http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/edible_estates/ Frieze Magazine: Edible Estates by Bradley Horn, 2008]
* [http://www.dwell.com/daily/video/17171261.html Dwell Magazine: Emerging Designer: Fritz Haeg, video feature, 2008]
* [http://www.mensvogue.com/design/articles/2008/04/haeg Men's Vogue - Greener than Grass by Tim McKeough, 2008]
* [http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/summer2008/features/canyon_meets_artist/index.html Reed College Magazine: Canyon Meets Artist by Stephanie Snyder, 2008]
* [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1816764,00.html Time Magazine: The Incredible Edible Front Lawn, 2008]
* [http://www.smartcityradio.com/smartcityradio/past_shows.cfm?showsmartcityID=413&PageNum_getsmartshows=1,Smart City Radio: interview, 2008]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/10/HOUG1084IC.DTL San Francisco Chronicle: Haeg - Cut the Grass, Plant and Edible Estate by Glen Helfand, 2008]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=kKG0jiCHB6w Whitney Museum of American Art: feature video, 2008]
* [http://www.artreview.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1474022%3ABlogPost%3A91246 Art Review: Go tell it on the Mountain - LA's New Nomadic Schools by Holly Meyer's, 2008]
* [http://kcet.org/explore-ca/web-stories/sustaining/edible_estates.php KCET: Sustaining L.A., 2008]
* [http://www.calendarlive.com/galleriesandmuseums/cl-ca-altart30sep30,0,3062081.story?coll=cl-lat-homepage Making Art a Team Sport by Holly Meyers, 2007]
* [http://www.here-now.org/shows/2007/08/20070806_13.asp Here and Now on NPR: Edible Estates, 2007]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87890217 Day to Day on NPR: Architect creates Estates for Wild Animals, 2008]
* [http://ecoartblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/utopia-and-failure-eco-art-blog.html Eco Art Blog: Utopia and Failure: Eco Art Blog Interviews Fritz Haeg by Matthias Merkel Hess, 2008]
* [http://www.creativetime.org/programs/archive/publicspace/haeg.html Creative Time: Interview with Nato Thompson, 2007]
* [http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/videos/article/1157147976607?packedargs=suffix=ArticleController The London Paper: Art that you can Eat by Lottie Muggach, 2007]
* [http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=50581_0_23_0_C Archinect - Fritz Haeg : Small Revolutions by Amy Seek, 2007]
* [http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/anyone_home/ Frieze Magazine: Anyone Home? by James Trainor, 2006]
* [http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2344206&page=1 ABC World News Tonight: Front Yards 'Uprooted' for Greener Pastures, 2006]
* [http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/thtv_edible_estates.php TreehuggerTV: Edible Estates, 2006]
* [http://fritzhaeg.com Fritz Haeg's official website]