Sculpture installation adds to Eastside dialogue on Bellevue and BCC Reads book selection

BELLEVUE, WASH.– Joining the public dialogue on Michael Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire – which is the joint selection of the Bellevue Reads and BCC Reads programs this year – noted Seattle artist Ellen Sollod will install a sculpture at BCC April 3 that draws parallels between concepts from the book and today’s housing market bubble.

The temporary installation, to be displayed on campus from April 4 – 25, will coincide with author Michael Pollan’s free public lecture at BCC on April 19th, as part of the college’s celebration of Earth Week 2006.

In The Botany of Desire, Pollan investigates the connection between four plants that have thrived under human care – apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes – and the four human desires they satisfy in return: sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control.

Sollod’s sculpture draws from the book’s discussion of “tulipmania” in 17th century Holland.

“’Tulipmania’ was the name given to wild speculation in tulip bulbs,” Sollod said. “Some prized varieties came to be more costly than an Amsterdam house at the time, and ordinary people sold businesses, farm animals and even dowries to buy them. Eventually, oversupply caused the market to collapse, dealers went bankrupt and many people lost their savings.

“I see ominous parallels between that phenomenon and today’s housing market,” Sollod said, “People are taking out second mortgages and using risky financial schemes in order to buy houses. But now, with the market becoming oversupplied, many people believe it could well collapse.”

The sculpture, which is one in a series that Sollod has created in response to public issues, will consist of six 55-gallon drums labeled as cans of a food product called “the American Dream.” Five of the cans will represent houses, and rather than listing nutrition facts their labels will describe "real estate facts" – such as status, street appeal, location and even buyer's remorse – and a dubious list of ingredients. The sixth drum will be planted with tulips.

Author Michael Pollan’s free lecture begins at 7 p.m. in Carlson Theatre on BCC’s main campus (3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue – off 148th Ave. S.E.). Pollan will discuss the power of plants and read from his new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

The Bellevue Reads program, sponsored jointly by the Bellevue Regional Library and Bellevue Community College’s Center for Liberal Arts, encourages all of the library’s reading clubs to read one book in common each year.

BCC Reads is a Center for Liberal Arts project through which one book each year is incorporated in interdisciplinary fashion into BCC courses across the curriculum. About 2,000 BCC students are studying The Botany of Desire this year, in classes ranging from philosophy to botany to business.

BCC’s Center for Liberal Arts was established in 2002 to strengthen the educational experience of its students, the professional development of its faculty and the cultural life of the community. The Center advocates the importance of liberal arts studies, fosters civic engagement, promotes excellence in research, scholarship and teaching and presents public arts and cultural programs. Information on the Center’s activities is available on-line at www.bcc.ctc.edu/liberalarts.

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