Swale was a floating edible landscape built atop a 5,000 square-foot barge

that traveled to public piers in New York City welcoming visitors to harvest

perennial fruits and vegetables free of charge. Swale docked at public piers

in Brooklyn, Governors Island, and the Bronx in spaces adjacent to the city’s

public land. Public land in the city equates to 30,000 acres, as compared

with the 100 acres of community garden space where, if you have a plot,

picking food is allowed. Swale re-valued public land by using the ‘com-

mon law’ of the water as a loophole to do what had been illegal on public

land: legally, picking plants was considered destruction of property. Swale

followed the insights of social scientist Elinor Ostrom and traditional eco-

logical knowledge that claim that in a vibrant commons, people had a vital

role to play not only as beneficiaries, but also as co-creators, protectors,

and decision makers.

Swale was also experiential: people walked onto a barge adjacent to a city

park to find that it looked, smelled, and tasted like land but felt different. As

they grew accustomed to the moving vessel and their forested surround-

ings, their perspective shifted and soon it could feel like the city was mo-

ving back and forth, as the structure they were on began to feel stable.

People suddenly cared about everything: where the soil came from, where

the water came from that watered the plants, and how this translated to the

food they were eating at home. An edible forest built on an industrial barge

questions land use in the city, food systems, infrastructure, public health

priorities, and whether the establishment of a commons is still possible. It

can also model alternatives, request involvement, and put trust in city dwel-

lers as agents who care for shared resources. As a direct result of Swale and

the support of community groups, in 2017 the New York City Parks Depart-

ment opened their first land-based pilot – a public “foodway” at Concrete

Plant Park in the Bronx.

(text by Mary Mattingly)

SWALE

Mary Mattingly

Lives and works in New York.

arte: lugar : cidade | volume 1, número 1, maio/out. 2024 | doi: 10.22409/arte.lugar.cidade.v1i1.62033 112

Mary Mattingly is an interdisciplinary artist who is driven to explore imagi-

ned socio-ecological futures through co-creation. Based in New York City,

her work involves building sculptural ecosystems that prioritize access to

food, shelter, and clean water, resulting in large-scale participatory projects

around the world. These projects rely on absurdity and chance encounters

to provide discordant perspectives and shift perceptions.

Mattingly’s sculptures foster coalition-building and help to strengthen com-

mon spaces. In 2016, her leadership of Swale, a floating sculpture and edible

landscape on a public barge in New York, inspired the New York City Parks

Department to establish the city’s first public “foodway.” The foodway is a

public space where people can legally forage in a city where it is otherwise

publicly prohibited.

Mattingly’s work frequently activates public spaces and has also been

exhibited at institutions such as Storm King Art Center, the International

Center of Photography, Seoul Art Center, the Brooklyn Museum, Palais de

Tokyo, Barbican Art Gallery, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana.

Notable grants include those by the James L. Knight Foundation, the Harpo

Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, and

the Art Matters Foundation. Mattingly is a 2023 recipient of a Guggenheim

Fellowship.

mary.mattingly@gmail.com

https://marymattingly.com

Este documento é distribuído nos termos da licença Creative Commons

Atribuição Não Comercial 4.0 Internacional (CC-BY-NC)

arte: lugar : cidade | volume 1, número 1, maio/out. 2024 | doi: 10.22409/arte.lugar.cidade.v1i1.62033 113

Foraging from Swale on Governors Island, 2016, photo by Mary Mattingly

Swale at Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2017, photo by Katherine Kiefert

Swale in the East River, 2017, photo by Cloudfactory

Foraging from Swale on Governors Island, 2016, photo by Mary Mattingly

Swale at Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2017, photo by Katherine Kiefert

Swale in the East River, 2017, photo by Cloudfactory

Swale at Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2017, photo by Katherine Kiefert Plants on Swale, 2017, photo by Katherine Kiefert

Young people foraging on Swale, 2018, photo: Mary Mattingly Foraging apples on Swale, 2018, photo: Mary Mattingly

Foraging on Swale, 2017, photo: Katherine KiefertEdible plants on Swale, 2017, photo: Katherine Kiefert

Tours on Swale, 2017, photo: Katherine Kiefert

View from Swale in Brooklyn to Manhattan, 2018, photo: Mary Mattingly

Tours on Swale, 2018, photo: Mary Mattingly

Tours on Swale, 2017, photo: Katherine Kiefert

View from Swale in Brooklyn to Manhattan, 2018, photo: Mary Mattingly

Tours on Swale, 2018, photo: Mary Mattingly

Sequoia Carr selling plant-based goods at Concrete Plant Park

in the Bronx, 2016, photo by Mary Mattingly

Swale at Brooklyn Bridge Park, 2018, photo by Katherine Kiefert

Swale at Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx, 2016, photo by Rava Films

Swale at Concrete Plant Park, 2018, photo: Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice