100 Million offers a profound reflection on the unsolicited bulk mail industry by Florida-based artist, Lili(ana), Bernheim’s 2024 Environmental Artist in Residence. 100 million refers to the number of trees’ worth of bulk mail that arrives in American mailboxes each year – the equivalent of deforesting the Rocky Mountain National Forest four times a year.
Lili(ana) asked the public and Bernheim community to bring in bulk mail from home, which she then shredded to become the material for this piece. She chose to utilize a fallen tree along a trail in L+A+N+D as it offered a symbolic representation of the trees cut down for the bulk mail industry.
In addition to 100 Million, Lili(ana) also created bulk mail casts of living trees in the arboretum with the help of many participants from school groups, visitors, local artists, and Bernheim staff members. As she worked on her projects, she engaged in conversation with guests about the devastating effects bulk mail has on forests and living more sustainably. She spoke about the individuality of the trees as each having a personality. The process of making the shredded paper molds, and fitting them on the roots and trunk, feeling the texture and contours of the tree’s skin, impressed participants with the physical reality that bulk mail comes from trees and diminishes them as well.
Lili(ana) working on 100 Million.
Lili(ana) displayed the completed tree forms in an installation during our annual ColorFest. The tree forms also became part of her expanding art project, Fore(st)sight…pondering on the future of forests, recently exhibited at Miami International Fine Arts (MIFA) in Florida.
This installation was made possible with support from PAVERPOL and AR Studio.
