Rubus Discolor Project is a temporary exhibition space in Portland, Oregon. This 498 square foot house constructed in 1913 will soon be remodeled, but in the interim, we have made it into a gallery of sorts.

Rubus discolor is a less accurate term for the Himalayan blackberry (now known as Rubus armeniacus), a scourge of Pacific Northwest landscapes west of the Cascade Mountains. Rubus armeniacus was introduced by American botanist and horticulturist Luther Burbank in 1885 at the height of “a faddish adjunct to horticultural orientalism,” and by 1945 the plant had naturalized up and down the West Coast.* When acquired, the property was a thick mass of 6 - 12′ high canes. In order to honor this plant’s tenacity (and to inspire some in ourselves) all art-related activity that happens on the site falls under the heading, Rubus Discolor Project. We are also asking ourselves, what or who is the real invasive here?

* “Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture” Lisa Robertson.

LMH 2020.