My second collaboration with a poet, entitled Meander, is now installed in Stowe Vermont as part of this year's Exposed exhibit sponsored by the Helen Day Art Center. Poet Lizzy Fox has allowed me to use her poem, Shedding.
One of the challenges of installing art outside is the weather. Of course, it was raining during the whole time but at least I did not have to experience a thunderstorm, just continuous drizzle. The other factor here is that I had to install along the bike path in the meadow. To be able to see the piece, the weeds around the lawn signs had to be weed whacked. So I can now add to my art skills that of "weed whacker".
This is from my artist statement about Meander:
Plastic lawn signs are ubiquitous. We associate them with unsightly commercialism. They hawk political campaigners, singles groups, pest control companies and realty for sale. Using the format of the familiar lawn sign, this installation subverts its use as an unwelcome intervention and instead provides a contemplative and interactive poetic experience for the viewer.
One of the challenges of installing art outside is the weather. Of course, it was raining during the whole time but at least I did not have to experience a thunderstorm, just continuous drizzle. The other factor here is that I had to install along the bike path in the meadow. To be able to see the piece, the weeds around the lawn signs had to be weed whacked. So I can now add to my art skills that of "weed whacker".
This is from my artist statement about Meander:
Plastic lawn signs are ubiquitous. We associate them with unsightly commercialism. They hawk political campaigners, singles groups, pest control companies and realty for sale. Using the format of the familiar lawn sign, this installation subverts its use as an unwelcome intervention and instead provides a contemplative and interactive poetic experience for the viewer.
The rhythmically-placed placards,
situated approximately 4 feet apart,
follow the natural twists and turns of a walking path and make evident
the contours of a landscape. The colorful rectangular placards function as
visual contrast to the organic shapes of foliage and rocks, and poetry by LizzyFox provides a further way to interact with the
installation and the landscape.
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| Walking in one direction, you can read Lizzy Fox's poem, Shedding. |
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| Walking in the opposite direction, you see a procession of colors. |