Ground Cover

Ground cover is categorized as any type of plant that grows over a significant area and forms a layer of vegetation referred to as the “regenerative layer”. 

Ground is both an electrical term and a word used to describe the surface of the earth. In electrical terminology ground is a return path for electrical current or describes a physical connection to the earth. All electrical movement is trying to find the quickest route to return to the earth. 

Modern life is dependent on electricity and aided by machines. Humans manipulate environments ranging from the development and use of artificial light to the creation of elaborate virtual worlds within computer systems. The behavior of natural phenomena is simulated as a tool to predict outcomes. Humans replicate earthquakes, weather and viral patterns, fires and flight in order to predict what would seem to be unpredictable.  Simulations can improve learning and allow people to experiment, test and explore systems, processes and ideas in a controlled environment. 

What is the result of a simulation?  It is possible to simulate a sunset but what is the emotive response? The sculptures in Ground Cover explore the challenge of reproducing the subtleties of the complex natural world. 

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Artist Bio:

Alex Branch is an interdisciplinary artist whose work often requires or implies the involvement of a human body to activate and realize the piece. The objects and installations she makes can be architectural, acoustic, kinetic. A person can be housed inside them, traverse the water in them. They can be worn or flipped through. They can be played or simply looked at but even in the looking, the body is imagined.

Her work has been supported by Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, ApexArt International Research Fellowship and Blue Mountain Center among others. She has built site specific projects in New Mexico, St. Louis, and Florida. Her work has been exhibited in New York, Chicago, Montreal, Houston, Seattle, Denver, St. Louis, and Albuquerque.

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‍Public hours:

Thursdays through Sundays, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, March 3rd – March 26th, 2023

Opening Celebration March 3rd, 6:00pm  – 9:00pm

Understudy is free-to-visit and open to all. We are located at the Colorado Convention Center / Theatre District light rail stop near 14th and Stout. Look for the Shantell Martin art bench.

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