NYAB Event - Eric Heist “Biosphere 2”

Eric Heist “Biosphere 2”

Field Projects

This event has ended.

Field Projects present Biosphere2, an exhibition of recent works by Eric Heist. This installation continues Heist’s interest in the economic and psychological dynamics of communal idealism in the face of individual interests. As in previous exhibitions by the artist, an array of media are directed toward a thematically-organized, research-based approach to an historic event.

In the early nineties, a multi-million dollar facility was constructed in the desert outside of Tucson in Oracle, Arizona. A team of 8 scientists/creative individuals were assembled, half were male, half were female, to live together for a two-year period in a 3.5 acre “closed system” in which no materials were removed or added to the environment. Oxygen, food, and waste would all have to be cultivated or disposed of within the Biosphere. There were a number of “biomes” constructed- Desert, Savannah, Ocean, Rain Forest, Agriculture- that were to be maintained by the “Biospherans” and would, in turn, maintain the biosphere, providing water, food, oxygen, and efficient waste recycling.

Biosphere 2 was an Earth-based model for a Mars space station/colony. It was conceived by visionary/poet/actor John Allen and influenced by artists that included Brion Gysin, William S. Burroughs and Buckminster Fuller.

The Biospherans were expected to sustain themselves by growing and raising their own food and to maintain complex life support systems within this giant geodesic terrarium. Within six months a variety of factors converged to undermine the utopic nature of the project: negative publicity, interior malfunctions, lack of food, lack of oxygen and a power struggle between the visionary of the project, John Allen, and the funder, Ed Bass. This power struggle outside of the dome affected the individuals within, creating a deep and personal division. Within six months the Biospherans had separated into two groups of 2 men and 2 women that refused to speak or eat together.