On June 1, 1843, Bronson Alcott brought his wife and four young daughters to a red farmhouse in a valley flanked by Prospect Hill. Here he hoped to found a “New Eden,” a utopian community that would live by the ideals of transcendentalism, going beyond material things to find greater spiritual truths and thus leading a more meaningful, virtuous life. This year Fruitlands Museum is celebrating the 175th anniversary of that endeavor with two different events. One is a pop-up reception on Saturday, Sept. 22, for artist Alexi Antoniadis, who, last spring, created a large outdoor sculpture called Eden 2.0, and the other is a dramatic reading of an original script called “In Their Own Words,” with performances Oct. 13 and 14.
Saturday will be a busy day at Fruitlands, with the eighth annual juried craft show, a biergarten hosted by Notch Brewing, and the artist’s reception. “A Toast” will be the words on a visitor map indicating the location of the “pop-up” tent in the southeast portion of the field by the entrance gate. Visitors are invited to stop by the tent between 2 and 4 p.m. to meet and toast the artist. Curator Shana Dumont Garr wanted the toast to be outside, near the large metal sculpture, but visitors are encouraged to see Antoniadis’ small sculptures in the art gallery, where they may also view two other temporary exhibits: “Leisure Pursuits—The Fashion and Culture of Recreation” and “Inhabiting Folk Portraits.”
“Eden,” a large-scale outdoor sculpture by Alexi Antoniadis, was created to help mark the 175th anniversary of the Fruitlands utopian commune that existed at Fruitlands. (Courtesy photo)
Antoniadis wrote in his artist statement: “Eden 2.0 is a cooperative network of line, structure, and nature. Combining elements of figure, architecture, and organic growth, Eden 2.0 rises from the ground like a multicolored plant of dreams, echoing the hopes and aspirations of its transcendentalist predecessors.” Dumont Garr said Antoniadis was thinking about Bronson Alcott as a pioneer, and he wanted to capture the energy of that when he created Eden 2.0 especially for the 175th anniversary and for this location in the Fruitlands landscape.
Dumont Garr described the artist himself as a pioneer, always asking the question, “How can we build something better?” Science fiction has influenced his work as he thinks about possibilities of the future. In Eden 2.0 the forms are familiar but put together in new ways. Some pieces seem to be reaching out, as though to break the boundaries of the form.
Connecting then and now
Dumont Garr said she sees the sculpture as mid-century modern, capturing the sophistication of the mid-20th century and connecting then and now. She noted how differing shades and arrangements of pink, blue, and green pop against the natural background and make the piece more vibrant.
“In Their Own Words: The Story of Fruitlands” will be performed at the Fruitlands farmhouse on both Oct. 13 and 14, starting at 2 p.m. and running for close to an hour. The original script is a compilation of letters and journal excerpts from Bronson Alcott; his wife Abigail; Alcott’s co-founder, Charles Lane; daughters Louisa and Anna; and a short-term member, Thomas Hecker. It captures the exhilaration and high hopes that marked the arrival of the group, shows the beginnings of discord, and ends with the realities of failure after seven months. Material is taken largely from Clara Endicott Sears’ book “Bronson Alcott’s Fruitlands.”
The re-enactors are longtime interpreters at Fruitlands and children from the area who have been frequent visitors to the museum. The “set” is of course authentic, but certain props will be improvised. There will be chairs for the audience.
The fact that these two events are happening attests to the lasting significance of the Fruitlands experiment. Although the venture was a practical failure, it serves as an inspiration to live according to one’s ideals, to find in nature not only solace but moral truths, and to seek to be a more kind and loving person. As Bronson Alcott said, “That is failure when a man’s idea ruins him, when he is dwarfed and killed by it; but when he is ever growing by it, and does not lose it by partial or immediate failure—that is success, whatever it seems to the world.”
