eli rodriguez fielder and e clayton scofield

Ecologies of the Unwanted
2025-26 Research/Development Grant

Ecologies of the Unwanted shows love to species that thrive in new environments and questions the metrics by which we distinguish between wanted and unwanted nature. The project draws attention to the language used when talking about plants, insects, and animals as “exotic” entities who will “take over” and destroy what “belongs” in an environment. Who made this taxonomy? asks the poet Marwa Helal in Invasive Species, calling on us to “unmake it.” Ecologies of the Unwanted wants to breakdown categories, so that we might collectively unlearn how we relate to what flourishes in ignored places: the drainage ditch, urban creek, wooded lot, alleyway. Through performance and film the collaborators imagine these species where they don’t belong and invite you to listen.