Enjoy this time-lapse video produced by Colleen Bozuwa of my “When the Moon Came to Earth” installation at King Farm in Woodstock, Vermont. Thanks, Colleen!
Also, Marie Kirn of Hartland, Vermont gave my piece a kind endorsement, saying it is “striking and moving” in this broadcast of Vermont Public Radio’s En Plein Air. Listen to the short segment.
This is my latest piece “When the Moon Came to Earth.” Each disc is made of saplings and measures 10′ in diameter. It’s installed at King Farm, which is an extension of Sculpture Fest.
Daniel plays Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on my piece, “Tree Songs,” in a video by friend Colleen Bozuwa.
“Tree Songs” is comprised of saplings I painted white and screwed to a piano I painted black. By attaching saplings to the piano, it appears to have the forest reclaim it, or perhaps people will see the piano as growing among a bunch of saplings. There is a beautiful rhythm to a grove of saplings clustered in a forest. The repetition of these vertical elements should compliment the black and white keys of the piano.
The piece was installed outside the Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vermont for the month of July. It was part of Dartmouth College’s celebration of the Hopkins Center for the Arts’ 50th anniversary, “Hands on Pianos.” Mine is one of 50 pianos that were altered by artists and installed throughout the Upper Valley. See more images of the creative process on the official Hands on Pianos website and in a previous post on this blog.
Friends and colleagues Dominic Stucker and Johanna Bozuwa wrote an article about my work developing the “art of sustainability” for the Society for Organizational Learning‘s (SoL’s) Reflections Journal. Learn more and read the article, entitled “The Art of Sustainability: Creative Expression as a Tool for Social Change.”
I recently led a mask making workshop at Cobb Hill with students from the Brearley School in New York City. The second year of students to stay at Cobb Hill during the summer, they came to learn about rural living, sustainability, and organic farming. Their presence created a fun exchange of lifestyles and ideas.
In many cultures, putting on a mask signifies the creation of a new persona, and therefore a new set of understandings, empathies, and ways of thinking. The participants in the workshop created masks while learning about the significance of mask-making in different cultures. They used natural elements collected around Cobb Hill and integrated them with other materials to create their pieces of art.
Creative problem solving is essential for addressing the many challenges we face in bringing about a sustainable future for people and planet. In this workshop the next generation engaged in creative expression and expanded their problem-solving skills, while also using these as a tool for cross-cultural exchange.
I received this note after the workshop:
“Thank you so much for guiding us through mask-making: we loved every minute of it. It was amazing to see our nature elements combined with human features take shape as we molded, constructed and painted them with vibrant colors. You were extremely patient, and your critiques for every one of our masks was always so kind and your advice always so helpful.” – Participants from the Brearley School, New York City
The above photos were taken by Annie Byerly and Xiaofu Ding, and Cobb Hill resident Carla Kimball.