Gleaning the Rains
J.J. McCracken & Margaret Boozer/Red Dirt Studio, with
Catalog Brewing/Patrick McDonough & Kenny George
Performance artist J.J. McCracken collaborates with Red Dirt Studio’s Margaret Boozer to address site-specific/local and broader issues of stormwater management with their project, Gleaning the Rains. Together with Catalogue Brewing’s Patrick McDonough & Kenny George, plus a team of students and interns, McCracken and Boozer transform a hitch trailer into a mobile rainwater collection unit for the market site. The unit doubles as a kiosk, or information locus, as it harvests rain to water onsite artists’ projects in the following ways: Open-source design may be copied by any homeowner in the region interested in installing rain barrels Unit distributes information on tax incentives and rebates for homeowners who adopt water management practices for reducing stormwater runoff on their properties Unit houses workshops by artists involved in the market site throughout the season Built of lumber, common roofing materials, gutters and rain barrels, Gleaning the Rains is a mock-up of any average single-family-home roof in the neighborhood. It serves as an easily copied model while intending to spark dialog about stormwater management among Gateway residents. Collected rainwater may be used to water gardens and trees or to wash cars, etc., reducing the amount of money a homeowner spends on a water bill while decreasing the negative effects of stormwater runoff on the Chesapeake Bay and other regional water bodies.
– J.J. McCracken
Gleaning the Rains, 2014; © J.J. McCracken, courtesy CONNERSMITH