DAYTON, Ohio -- Bill Harding, who made his mark on the world by growing grass on inanimate objects such as business suits and cars, calls his art 'a metaphor for the earth; the living environment.'
Harding first donned a grass suit, tie and hat in September 1982 in Kansas City. A female friend accompanied him in grass dress and shoes.
They rode downtown in a car Harding had bought for $25 and covered with -- what else -- grass.
The publicity that resulted landed Harding an appearance on 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson, 'That's Incredible,' and a Japanese television show. He also earned the moniker 'The Grass Man.'
Harding, 26, is a Dayton native, a 1981 graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, and currently a Chicago resident. On a visit to his hometown, he said he grows grass on suits and cars to make statements about the environment and about art.
'It's very striking visually,' Harding said of the grass suit. 'To wear it gives a very secure and warm feeling and it kind of makes you feel like an animal, like you have a fur.
'Artistically, I believe the suit is a metaphor for the earth, the living environment. Everyone has their environment and if everyone can keep their environment safe and clean, then that will make the world a much better place,' he said.
The grass car, he believes, is 'a metaphor for the delicate balance between nature and machines.'
Harding toted a plexiglass briefcase filled with goldfish to Dayton to serve as an example of a 'small, contained environment' that complements the portable environment of the grass suit, he said.
Harding dressed in the grass suit and carried the goldfish briefcase through a downtown department store, drawing stares and prompting one customer to inquire if the store was planning to stock te outfit.
'I will do anything to get my point across,' said Harding, who once wore a grass suit and had someone chase him with a lawnmower in Kansas City.
The process of growing a grass suit is simple, Harding says. He buys clothes from a thrift store and sprays adhesive on them. He attaches seeds, waters the clothes, and keeps them covered. In 11 or 12 days, he hasa grass suit.
He says the grass on suits has no nourishment to make it grow, so it dosn't live very long -- it sprouts, lasts a month to six weeks, then dies. He sometimes buries the suits, making the grass part of the earth again.
Harding maintains wearing the suit makes people feel better.
'I have noticed a lot that there's a certain feeling that I get with the grass suit on,' he said. 'The grass suit is the only instance of being in something that's living other than the womb.'
Harding, his art dealer, and a professional bowler once took turns bowling with and without the suits to see if wearing them made a difference in their performances. After each wore the suits, their scores went up, he said.
He plans more research with grass suits, including attempting to grow edible foods on them. He also wants to grow 100 grass suits and have 100 people wear them and meet in a park in Chicago.
'Wearing a grass suit around and calling it art expands the boundaries of art and gives people a lot more room to explore,' Harding said. ---
Harding also paints, sculpts, and composes music. A sampling of his work will be on display through Feb. 15 at the University Art Galleries at Wright State University.
'I'm not rich from it,' Harding said of his work. 'But I have gotten around a bit from doing it.
'I'm rich in (that) I think I've touched a lot of people with my work,' he said.
