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The Shapes Of Fire
Written By: Billy Love | Issue: April 2023
The Bascom partners with the Green Energy Park in Dillsboro for a dazzling new exhibition.
The Bascom partners with the Green Energy Park in Dillsboro for a dazzling new exhibition. Works of art in clay, glass and metal have at least one thing in common: the requirement of fire to shape forms into solid objects for viewers to behold. The physical energy required to create such objects is often forgotten once they sit on a pedestal in a gallery. Artists who make work at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro face the fire every day as a routine part of their practice and have the unique opportunity to witness the power of technology to recapture landfill methane to fuel forges and foundries. Their works are on exhibit at The Bascom beginning this month. Green Energy Park: Building Art and Community with Renewable Energy is curated by Green Energy Park Executive Director Timm Muth, provides Bascom audiences the opportunity to learn about renewable energy and its role and potential for art making. The Jackson County Green Energy Park utilizes clean, renewable energy resources to encourage economic development, provide environmental protection, and offer educational opportunities that seek to create a more sustainable future for Western North Carolina. Methane gas from landfills is a potent greenhouse gas that left unchecked can negatively impact the environment. Burning methane gas in a controlled environment produces carbon dioxide (c02) and water (H20) in the combustion process. Therefore, burning landfill gas as fuel, the Green Energy Park provides direct and immediate improvements to the environment and local air quality while providing affordable studio space for artists and crafts people working in glass and metal and educational opportunities for the community. Guest curator Timm Muth has over 30 years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to his leadership at Green Energy Park, Muth helped design and manage nuclear facilities, fossil fuel stations, hydropower, solar and wind power installations, and biomass resources such as landfill gas. Leading the effort at the Green Energy Park since its inception in 2005, Timm brings to the project an enthusiasm for renewable energy, belief in the power of community, and the ability to turn what could be into what is. The Bascom is enthused to share in partnership the great work being undertaken at JCGEP where art, community and sustainability converge. Green Energy Park: Building Art and Community with Renewable Energy opens April 22.
by Billy Love, The Bascom
