The Reforestation of the Andover IRS

Ellen Harvey created The Reforestation of the Andover IRS as a fantastical re-imagining of the modern-day workplace.  Engraved into the artwork’s mirrored surface is a fantasy drawing of the IRS office overgrown with vegetation.  Plants and vines grow out of cubicles and around discarded computers, and trees have taken root between the building’s distinctive columns.  The scene includes local plant species that might flourish in the IRS office if nature were allowed to reclaim the site.  The antique-style, mouth-blown glass produces shimmering, watery reflections of passersby and the surrounding office space.

Harvey was inspired to create this scene by the environmental benefits of the IRS’s transition from paper to electronic filing, as well as by architect Jonathan Levi’s introduction of daylight and actual garden spaces throughout the remodeled IRS building.  The Reforestation of the Andover IRS also plays with the longstanding artistic tradition of the picturesque ruin, in which elements of civilization are shown overwhelmed by nature as reminders of the unpredictable course of history.