David Cohen is a New York City-based installation artist and educator who facilitates The Seed Project. Recently I talked with David about The Seed Project, environmental art, and social sculpture. 

DG: How long have you been making art?

DC: I discovered the art making process in my sophomore year at the State University of Oswego when I took an introductory drawing class. I thought that art is something that I could do the rest of my life, so I switched my major from Psychology to Art right away.

DG: Who are some of your artistic influences?

DC: When I first started painting my professor, Al Bremmer, was into abstract expressionism. So much of my painting career has been influenced by that movement. But I haven’t really painted in years… I didn’t have any direct influences when I began to do collaborative/ conceptual work. It was only shortly after I began making ice sculpture that I discovered Andy Goldsworthy and after I began the Seed Project I discovered Joseph Beuys. Also Kim Holleman -- when I interviewed her for the online version of the magazine said “Artists can do anything.” Those words were very powerful and really inspired me. 

DG: How did you come up with the idea for "Artworld Digest"?

DC: I founded Artworld Digest as a way to create a new platform for contemporary art, that could at once serve as a resource for artists, collectors, galleries to find great art. I don’t believe a magazine has ever been done this way before, it serves as a type of catalogue, art show, and yearly survey all at once – with few words.

DG: How did your involvement with "Artworld Digest" lead to The Seed Project? 

DC: After the first issue I began to focus on how I could use that platform to “Transform artists into activists, and activists into artists.” Then the idea of the Seed as a bridge or gateway between the two worlds came to my consciousness. The Seed Project, which started in 2007, is an open platform where anyone can create environmental art and therefore become both an environmentalist and an artist at once -- It’s the perfect gateway and metaphor. I initially had the idea of having artists plant the seeds to create patterns and then decided to give complete freedom to what people do with the seeds. It's an ongoing and expanding project.  

DG: What kinds of teaching do you do? Do you ever assist teachers, as they are working with students to develop their own Seed Projects?

DC: I have guest lectured at the New School of Social Research.Occasionally I help out schools by assisting teachers if they feel they need extra help. In other cases the schools can do the project on their own, without my assistance, so that's fine too. 

DG: How many participants have there been so far? Where do the participants live?

DC: I've given out about 3,500 packages of seeds so far, although I don't always see the results. Artists of all ages from all over the world have planted the seeds as well. Eventually, I would like the project to be planted by millions, if not billions, of people.

DG: How have you approached the schools that have participated so far?

DC: I have contacted schools by calling them and meeting up to explain the project. They have usually been quite receptive. My goal is to eventually have schools contact me about the project instead of the other way around. The project has been structured differently with various schools, but most work with everything being done in a classroom setting with the teacher facilitating.

DG: What are some examples of locations in schools where Seed Projects have taken place?

DC: The last project was created in an auditorium with several classes building the project at various times of the day. There are also cases where the project is planted outside, if the school has a garden space.

DG: Would you say that TSP relates to the environmental art movement -- such as work by artists such as Robert Smithson and Michael Helzer? 

DC: I was aware of the work of Robert Smithson, Richard Long and Michael Heizer and their work has definitely paved the way for The Seed Project to be possible. Without these new frontiers being broken The Seed Project might not exist. The primary difference with this project is that I am inviting others to collaborate, not just with me but with each other. The project has infinite potential and can spread quickly. The project is also completely open. People can create a Seed Project and never reference that brand.

DG: You mentioned Joseph Beuys earlier. Do you think his work resonates with The Seed Project?

DC: Yes, I think the idea for The Seed Project fits into Joseph Beuys' idea of Social Sculpture and the ideas that go along with that movement. For example, the idea that artists have the responsibility to change the world around them, as well as Beuys' idea that everyone is an artist. 

DG: How would you say The Seed Project relates to other aspects of your artmaking process? For instance, how is collaborating with complete strangers on a project such as TSP different from the work that you do on your own? 

DC: That's an interesting question. My foray into collaboration started in 2003 with the formation of the art group Blasto, with Richard Nogueira, although Blasto longer exists. It wasn't easy at first to abandon control of a project as well as sharing ownership with the end results, but after a few years of collaborating I actually learned to embrace the loss of ego. I like the combined creativity and ultimately those projects take less work and time to finish. 

With the Seed Project it's not really the same type of collaboration because I don't usually directly create the work with the artists. Conceptually it is a collaboration, but it doesn't carry the same emotional weight as working directly with someone else on an project. There is an excitement from seeing what people create; although it is different from creating my own work, it's more moving to see how other people have responded to the project. There still exists a sense of pride, though. I think the sense of scale of the project is what excites me the most -- the feeling of creating something bigger than myself.

DG: What other projects have you been working on lately?

DC: I'm currently co-producing a video animation for a branch of the Sierra Club and the Transition Movement in Brooklyn where I live. I'm also planning the next issue of Artworld Digest Magazine and running a nonprofit organization called The Center For Contemporary Environmental Art.

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