Wall Space 2025: Forrest Gander
Created by Rotterdam-based designer Chris Kabel, Wall Space is a sculptural installation that turns Headlands’ building façade into a canvas for commissioned texts. Inspired by historical movie theater marquees, a hidden armature on the side of the building holds metal mesh letters that respond to the changing light, visible to viewers as cast shadows. The letters are reconfigured into a new poem several times a year.
For this iteration of Wall Space, we are grateful to host the writing of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Forrest Gander.
Artist Statement
There are long traditions of the pastoral, poetry centered on nature or landscape, in both Eastern and Western language literature. I’m less interested in “nature poetry”—where nature features as theme—than in poetry which investigates—both thematically and formally—the relationship between nature and culture, language and perception. What we’ve perpetrated on our environment has certainly affected a poet’s means and material. My Wall Poem developed slowly in my mind during several ritual hikes—circumambulations—around nearby Mount Tamalpais. I hope the poem suggests, in a way that doesn’t simply supplement the rational intellect, but offers incommensurable modes of insight, our mutualism with this revered and very particular place.
For years, I’ve come to Headlands to see and celebrate art, artists, and the landscape. Aki Onda’s musical installation, Dong Li’s reading of his poetry, Joshua Michelle-Ross’s eco-choral performance, and hikes around the Marin coastline have inspired me.
Wall Space Exhibition Opening
The evening begins at 6:00PM with drinks in our Mess Hall, followed by a family-style supper at 6:30PM. Around 7:40PM, we’ll gather outdoors in The Commons, where Forrest Gander will be joined by composer and cellist Theresa Wong (AIR ‘09) and multi-disciplinary artist Ashwini Bhat to present Embrace, a collaborative performance during the activation ceremony of the Wall Space commission.
Program:
6PM – Event starts
6:30PM – Welcome remarks
6:40PM – Dinner served
7:40PM – Wall Space Activation Ceremony
8PM – Event concludes
Guests will be invited to take a seed-ball with them to plant and germinate in their gardens.
Tickets are required for dinner. Maximum 4 per order. Interested in our Members Ticket price? Visit our Give page to join, or contact Kristina Graber to learn more at kgraber@headlands.org.
