Survival Piece #5: Portable Orchard 

The Harrisons conceived the Survival Pieces (1971–73) during a cultural moment defined by the questioning of accepted systems. The change-making, utopian aspirations of the hippie counterculture resonated with many artists, including the Harrisons, who were seeking to redefine sculpture and imagine radical new ways that art might take shape in the world. For the Harrisons, the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), which warned of the harmful impact of pesticides on US agriculture, sparked an environmental awakening that catalyzed their collaborative artistic practice. The two developed their first works alongside increasingly urgent calls for environmental protections throughout much of the world, calls that led to the inauguration of Earth Day in 1970. Periodic publications like the Whole Earth Catalog (1968–72) captured the spirit of self-sufficiency and community-based knowledge sharing at the time, proposing creative, survivalist solutions to better support the future of life on earth.