Paradise

Mara Adamitz Scrupe

Paradise is a solar powered temporary site installation commissioned by Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. The three salvaged minivans are planted with ethnobotanical plant species proven capable of providing excellent nutrition for human beings, as well as supplying other substances and materials useful to our species. These plants are considered "heirloom" varieties because of their long history of usefulness to humans, but they are currently threatened with extinction. Major seed companies prefer varieties that are easier to grow, better looking, and in some cases, lend themselves more readily to genetic engineering of plant stock.

I chose to make my gardens inside recycled late-model minivans for several reasons: as the ubiquitous symbol of the American suburban lifestyle, the minivan epitomizes the remarkably high standard of living enjoyed by most North Americans, in contrast with the poverty and constant hunger which is the norm for a fairly high percentage of the world’s population. Moreover, automobile emissions contribute more than any other single source to the destruction of the ozone layer and to dangerously high levels of air pollution worldwide, with Americans, who drive more than any other people on the face of the planet, leading the assault.

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