Teri Rueb Apps
Other Order v4.8
Other Order (2014)Teri Rueb and Peter Del Tredici"Other Order" is a sound walk set in the spontaneous landscape ofBussey Brook Meadow at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.Where the formal plant collections of the Arboretum presentvisitors with carefully arranged and maintained specimens organizedaccording to systems of botanical classification, Bussey BrookMeadow is a less easily categorized "emergent" ecology -- an urbanwild that has evolved through informal processes of management thathave left it open to colonization by spontaneous vegetation and theever-shifting impacts of human interventions.The sound walk presents a blend of recorded conversations andsounds drawn from and inspired by the landscape itself. Resilienceis the hallmark of such emergent ecologies, as illuminated by thevoice of the Arnold Arboretum's retired Senior Research Scientist,Peter Del Tredici, as he accompanies a variety of guest visitors onwalks through the meadow.The tracts that make up the contemporary Bussey Brook Meadow parcelhave been owned and governed by disparate parties since the 1600s,including private farmers and residents, Harvard University, theBussey Institute and the City of Boston. Designated as an "urbanwild" in the 1970s and later brought together as a unified parcel,the site was incorporated into the Arnold Arboretum indenture in1996. To link the Arboretum's historical landscape and Forest HillsStation, the Blackwell Footpath opened in 2001, named after urbanplanner John Blackwell who dedicated over 30 years to thepreservation of Boston urban wilds.Bussey Brook Meadow is now managed as a living laboratory for urbanecology. It is a site where human interventions includingagriculture, landfills, sewer and transportation corridors interactwith biological processes, and together they are allowed to runtheir "natural" course. Despite a long history of abuse andneglect, the site has evolved to its current state as a functionalurban wetland. The careful observer will be rewarded withdiscoveries both delightful and perhaps disturbing in this"Arboretum gone wild."The sound walk is a GPS-enhanced software application that sensesthe participant's movement and location in the landscape and inresponse, plays back sounds at specific points through thelandscape. Visitors are encouraged to download the app in advanceof their visit and wear headphones for optimal listening. Please bemindful of bicyclists and other pedestrians on the trail.Credits:Created by Teri Rueb and Peter Del TrediciAdditional sound recording: Ernst KarelAdditional sound design: Adam McFillinMobile app development:Nima Vakili (Android)Tom Stoll, Kitefish Labs (iOS)Illustration: Alison PaulFlute: Andrea DouglassSpecial Thanks:Maggie Redfern (for enduring support and enthusiasm)Anya Yermakova (for whistling and laughing)Other Order was funded with a generous donation by Janine Luke inmemory of Melvin Seiden. The project was commissioned by the ArnoldArboretum / Harvard and funded with an Artist Residency at theHarvard metaLab.
Times Beach 1.4.7
Times Beach Nature Preserve is located in the Buffalo OuterHarbor,near the mouth of the Buffalo River. Times Beach responds tothevaried histories and futures of this unusual site, from itsbroadlink to the ecosystem of the Great Lakes, to the role ofthesewaters as a vital resource for Native Americans who havelivedalong the shores of Lake Erie and the Niagara River forthousandsof years. With waves of European settlement, the harborbecamebuilt up and eventually what was once open water became anurbanbeach. Irish and Portuguese immigrants created a shantytown on“TheBeach” in the mid-19th Century, but residents wereultimatelyevicted in the early years of the twentieth century duetoincreasing industry. With the rise of the Parks movement anddemandfor public spaces for leisure, “Times Beach” was designatedarecreational beach in 1931 and named after the newspaperthatpromoted this new use. However, the beach was soon closed duetoindustrial contamination. Through the mid-twentieth centurythesite was used as a contained disposal facility for river andharbordredge. Today it has been restored as a nature preservethatsupports a remarkable number of migrating birds andbutterflies, aswell as wild urban plants and animals. Times Beachis a sound walkthat weaves together sonic traces of these differentmoments,building a palimpsest of voices, field recordings andresonancesthat evoke the various temporalities and textures of thesite.Delivered as a free downloadable app for iPhone andAndroiddevices, visitors are invited to wear headphones anddiscover anaural overlay that responds to their movement as theywander theboardwalks, seawalls and blinds of the preserve.
