Curtis Schreier: Swamp Alps

@ Yes We Cannibal
February 17 — March 24, 2024
Opening Saturday February 17, 6pm

Baton Rouge art space Yes We Cannibal presents Curtis Schreier: Swamp Alps. Swamp Alps is a solo exhibition by Schreier, presenting a speculative Barbie-scale model for ecological adaptive future landscape architecture and geo-engineering alongside a limited edition series of kirigami posters. 

Schreier, a core member of the radical media art and architecture group Ant Farm, has maintained a design and drawing practice for nearly 60 years, ranging from his early days working in the studio of noted landscape architect Lawrence Halprin to his Ant Farm work, which included designs for a variety of temporary inflatable structures, a planned Dolphin Embassy that would allow for dolphin-human communication and diplomacy.

Swamp Alps is Schreier’s conception of an artificial mountain range to be constructed out of decommissioned oil rigs, dragged out of the Gulf of Mexico in order to act as levees against encroaching sea-level rise. Schreier’s Barbie-doll scale mountain range simultaneously presents an adaptive reuse strategy for the post-fossil-fuel future of oil rigs, as well as a mitigation strategy for the sea level rise ultimately caused by the burning of fossil fuel those rigs made possible. Once in place, the future inhabitants of Louisiana could enjoy hiking, mountain biking, picnicking and other recreational activities on their new mountain range, while also enjoying the peace of mind that comes with having an unbreakable levee between oneself and the ever-rising waters of the Gulf. 

Like Berlin’s Teufelsberg, an “non-natural hill” created out of the rubble left over from Allied bombing in WWII, Swamp Alps will act as a monument to a society’s very bad past decisions as well as a fun gathering spot for families and friends. Teufelsberg (the name translates to “devil’s mountain” in German) is the highest spot in the capital city of Berlin, which is located in a flat and low-lying area of Germany. Like Teufelsberg, Swamp Alps will use the ruins of a former way of life to provide citizens with a new vantage point for the future. 

As the climate rapidly changes, and the ice caps and glaciers melt at an ever increasing rate, oil rigs in the Gulf continue to create 15% of the United State’s total oil production. The US, in turn, creates 18.9% of the world’s total oil every year.  

In addition to the Swamp Alps scale model, this exhibition will present a limited edition hand-screen-printed set of DIY-kirigami-scale-model posters. Kirigami, the origami-adjacent Japanese paper art, allows practitioners to cut as well as fold. Using this technique, Curtis has designed a series of scale-models, printed on posters. These posters can be enjoyed as-is as wall decor or cut, folded, and fastened into a tiny architectural model. Structures include a mobile “Think Tank”, a scale model of the 50-foot inflatable pillow Ant Farm designed for the concert at Altamont, miniature stages, rocket launch pads, geodesic domes, and more. 

Yes We Cannibal 
1600 Government St. 
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
(240) 595-9421
https://yeswecannibal.org/
https://www.instagram.com/yeswecannibal/

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About Curtis Schreier

Curtis Schreier (1944 –) is an architect and artist. He was a designer in the practice of Lawrence Halprin, landscape architect and early proponent of urban redevelopment. From the late 1960s, he was a core member of SouthCoast Pneumads, an experimental design and architecture group, and later of TVTV (or Top Value  Television) an early video journalism and documentary collective.

He is perhaps best known for his work with Ant Farm, a radical architecture, design, performance and media art group, developing the visionary ideation and graphic design for some of the group’s best known projects, including Media Burn, Dolphin Embassy, Truckstop Network, The Inflatocookbook, and Real City(c).

Curtis lives in San Francisco. 

About Ant Farm

The group Ant Farm worked the radical fringe of architecture from 1968 – 1978 and in the process migrated to video, performance, public art, graphic design and art.

About Yes We Cannibal

Yes We Cannibal is the name for both the collaborative art practices of Mat Keel and Liz Lessner as well as a project space for new art and thought, which they founded in 2020 in Baton Rouge, LA. The space offers a free home for experimentation in art, music, and other media, including paper/print and vinyl/sound media.

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Press Contact & Additional Information

For more information, please email press@yeswecannibal.org

Publications

A limited edition run of hand-screened posters will be available for sale. Please inquire with Yes We Cannibal for details and pricing.

Curtis Schreier sticker pack for iOS, WhatsApp, and Android is available here.

Additional Programming

• Opening reception: Saturday, February 17, 6pm

•  Salon event: Saturday March 16th, 4pm. Featuring a performance by Quintron (solo Weather Warlock). Tiger Acknowledgment press conference by Yes We Cannibal.

• Screening and panel discussion with artist Curtis Schreier and curator Liz Flyntz at LSU School of Art, Thursday, February 15th (free and open to the public). Time and location to be announced – please check Yes We Cannibal social media or contact press@yeswecannibal.org