Artificial Green Turf Rolls

Turf Roll outdoor

Infinite Green, 2021
outdoor public sculptural installation by TLC Art Collective (Tiffany Black, Leticia Bajuyo, and Christine Wilson)
21st Century Art Park, Santa Fe, New Mexico
materials: artificial turf, salvaged push mower, steel, paint, hardware, and adhesive
dimensions: 45” H x 120” L x 23” D

Infinite Green is a sculptural installation created with repurposed artificial grass and a reclaimed push lawn mower. What appears to be one very long strip of grass coils into two large rolls, creating an infinite loop of perfectly-manicured green lawn. In the center of the two turf rolls, where the material passes from one roll to the next, sits a well-worn lawnmower, as if positioned on a hamster wheel. The material of artificial grass stirs connotations of idealized versions of natural beauty, and our culture’s tendency to plasticize what we love in order to make its beauty last, manipulating organic materials to make them more durable and impervious to death and decay. 

Infinite Green evolved from dialogues about what is ultimately sacrificed in an endless quest for the perfect lawn, the perfect home, and the perfect life in pursuit of romanticized versions of the American Dream. Is there a price too high, in financial or natural resources, to achieve picture-perfect curb appeal? 

Turf Roll indoor

Inspired by the functional aesthetic of bales of hay, Exurban: Turf Roll, illustrates the artistry of these practical forms and a romantic view of our relationship to nature. The house is made from a kit sold for model train dioramas that comes with several options for customization, creating a faux sense of individuality.

While the house looks like a storybook home with its vivid blue color, decorative curtains, and comfortable porch on a perfect lawn, its tenuous relationship to the large turf roll leaves us to wonder whether the house is, like a snail, pulling its landscape with it as it travels or if the landscape is rolling itself up, endangering the house and tossing it from its foundation.