Hedgework is an urban landscape intervention installed at the Brookyn Navy Yard in New York City that takes the form of a sentient hedgerow. It is a community of native plants and environmental sensors that create a biodiverse habitat that supports the bees, butterflies and birds that inhabit it, while engaging the workers, cyclists, pedestrians and other community members that surround it. Hedgework creates a conversation between human and more-than-human stakeholders. Its infrastructure generates a series of feedback loops that provide multiple opportunities for playful response and interaction. Hedgework itself seasonally transforms over the life-cycle of the installation, growing, building knowledge and writing a soundtrack for the Navy Yard that reflects the climate and disposition of this site.
Hedgework was commissioned by the Brooklyn Navy Yard for exhibition between May and November 2024.
Hedgework is a collaboration between Marek Walczak (Civic Space LLC), Mark Shepard (Center for Architecture and Situated Technologies (CAST)) and Antonina Simeti (Timbre Consultants) with contributions from Robbie Lee (sound composition), Wes Heiss (Civic Space LLC), Cindy Burkowski (landscape design), Timothy Noble (software/hardware development), Johanna Kindvall (graphic design) and Nayarit Tineo (installation support).
Project website: https://www.hedgework.net/
