Giving Tree Self Reflection

Self Reflection
Giving Tree has been a very rewarding experience. I had no idea what to expect when I started
the project and have been pleasantly surprised thus far. I did not expect people to interact with it
as much as they have and I definitely did not expect people to approach me
about it while I was working on it. I
have found that when I install yarn works in public, or work with yarn in
public I am effectively ignored. I had
someone cross the street he was walking on then cross back so as to not walk by
me sewing something to a tree and I expected this reaction from the
project. I was thrilled to have a
stranger waiting to meet me last Tuesday to talk about what crafting means to
her. We ended up talking for over an
hour and I also taught one of my friends how to knit that night. I have had 5 people ask me tech problems
since the project started. I’ve been
asked how to begin and end knitting, end crocheting, switch colours in knitting
and what yo (yarn over) means in a pattern.
(yo) means to flip the yarn to the front when making knit stitch instead
of behind making two loops instead of one.
This usually is called for right before a button hole for example.
The people that have approached me have surprised me. I had a gentleman I had never met before sit
beside me for hours on the night of the initial install. We talked philosophy, politics, and music and
would stop talking at times and he would play his guitar while I was
sewing. I appreciated his company very
much to help me stay awake. I had the
pleasure of having an informal artist talk with half of the members of the
heavy metal band 3 inches of Blood. I
was installing just after their performance in the multipurpose room. They came up to me and asked me to tell them
about the ‘giant kitty post’. I used to
be a ‘metal head’ and was very thrilled to be talking yarn with these
guys. They were all really, really sweet
and genuinely interested. I appreciated
it very much, a great deal of people still ignore me when I am working on the
tree during peak traffic times. I was
extra delighted to have anyone come up and talk to me about it, let alone these
guys. I tried to get them to add
something but they declined.

I have had more contributions from friends and strangers
than I imagined I would receive. Giving
Tree has received two scarves from strangers and the development of a chain on
one of the strings. It also includes a
piece of knitting my friend learned on last week. One person for sure has been using the Giving
Tree as a wishing well and I was very touched by this gesture. I have received numerous yarn donations from
friends and family. I put a shout out
for yarn in Jan/Feb and was touched by the response. So many people raided their stashes and had a
little bit they were not using or gave me a little bit of money to help throw
resources together. For those that do
not buy yarn regularly it can add up very fast.
Next time I would do up even more for the tree before the
install so it was more interesting on a daily basis. I would have liked to be able to pour more
effort in to it every single day. So
ideally I would be camped out by the piece constantly to add things. Bringing a domestic craft in to a public
space has been very interactive and successful.

Giving Tree - artist statement

Giving Tree

Giving
Tree is hand made with extra care.
Yarn is deliberate. Every warm,
cozy, loving, friendly feeling associated with something hand made especially
for you, is a part of Giving Tree. Giving
Tree has sprung up from countless hours of manual labour. Giving
Tree will continue to grow every single day during its installation. Creating is a daily meditative ritual. I am exploring this ritual in a public space
and invite you to participate. I will be
adding to the work every single day for a month. Some days a couple of leaves will appear,
others a branch throughout the duration of the installation.

I invite you to participate and add
to Giving Tree. You can do this during the day when people
are looking, or at night when no one is around.
Feel free to add to it in the spirit of yarn bombing and add to Giving Tree ninja style. I will be documenting the tree every single
day and create a video of it growing upon its completion. I have received permission to incorporate the
bench beside Giving Tree. There is also room for the tree to grow so
tall it curls up the stair rails like vines.
Giving Tree is exploring juxtaposition. It is domestic in a public space, and craft
as art through site specific installation.
Participants can receive their contributions back if they wish at the
end of the project. You can contact me
at alpinegreenjen@gmail.com. I have also created a public facebook event
for Giving Tree which you are more
than welcome to follow for daily pictures and to see the end video. It should show up when you search Giving Tree.

Debbie Stoller has defined knitting
and crocheting, all ‘domestic’ arts as being radical. I full heartedly embrace this. These practices are radical because they are
not necessary any more in our consumer society.
Why spend 20 hours, and significantly more money on a scarf you could go
buy for less? Creating in this way is a
celebration of skill, time, and imagination.
In several current movements inspired by Debbie Stoller, Betsy Greer,
yarn bombers and comradery at local yarn shops, people are reconnecting over yarn. I want to explore the capacity for knitting
and crocheting to be social and community building with this installation. I will be offering knitting and crocheting
lessons once a week by the tree. I will
be here from 7-8 every single Tuesday night while it is installed. If you already have some crafty skills and
would love to have some company I would love you to stop by too. Thank you very much for taking the time to
stop and admire Giving Tree as it grows.

Events I have attended

This image if from Diane Morin's exhibition capteurs d'ombres

I had the pleasure of attending two drag shows this semester. They were both at GLCR downtown. The first drag show of the two, and the first one I had ever been to had a politically incorrect theme. I went to the show with one of my friends from work, and she had failed to mention to me that it was politically incorrect because she thought I already knew. It actually took me awhile once the show started to figure out the theme was on purpose. The thematics were pretty shocking without the foreknowledge to mentally prepare for it. One of the drag queen's performances especially stuck out. Jenny Talia's number was a series of songs blended together about slavery. The performance started with Jenny in a KuKluxKlan outfit and went from there. The effort Jenny put in to the performance was incredible. Jenny manipulated various medias from music, to costume, to lights, to audience reactions. The result was very artistic, and deliberately politically incorrect. The show started in a KKK outfit and ended with one of the servers wearing a toga wrapped in chains.

I attended another a month later in the same building. This one was a fundraiser for the GLCR community. I really admire the work and effort that goes in to performing as a Queen. Every single one of the performers took advantage of their intermedia environment to express themselves. This show had a much more glamorous and done up feel. It was very interesting to compare the two.

I have also attended several galleries. I really enjoyed the BFA/MFA show Hendeca 11 sides currently at the MacKenzie. There are many intermedia components to this exhibition. Joel Kovach's Homo Monstrous is especially interactive. The viewer listens a distorted voice giving them directions on how to interact with the piece. Homo Monstrous invites you to watch a series of filed DVDs of homo monstrous stories and recollections. The viewer is also encouraged to take away a cd that includes all of the stories on it making it even more interactive. Sydney Henrickson's piece also stood out to me on an intermedia level. Sydney takes casts of herself, which are very sculptural and projects a life like naked image of herself on top of one of them. The layers of media, and interpretations are quite interesting.

I checked out Neutral Ground over reading week and was enamoured with Diane Morin's work. I love work that plays with light, reflections, and shadows. Ed Pien is one of my all time favourite artists. I have had the pleasure of seeing Ed Pien's work multiple times in Saskatoon and Regina and love his work every single time. Diane's work reminded me of Pien's a bit. Whereas Pien's is so atmospheric and invites you to walk around in the space, Diane's does the opposite. You have to walk up and peer in these meticulous and fascinating shadow/light shows. I really engaged with her work, especially the one that used the mechanized knitting machine. The machine looked almost evil with its shadowy hooks going up and down so fast.

I had the pleasure of checking out Critical Faculties at the FNUC gallery. I had never been in the FNUC building and the experience was incredible. I loved the white rounded walls, the amount of light pouring in and the peaceful flow of the architecture. The gallery was smaller than I expected but this was by no means detrimental. It was very interesting to see what various faculty members have created. I identified the most with Sean Whalley's work. The photographic prints Willow and Sugar Maple are stunning. The way they are displayed wrapped around the gallery support poles added extra impact. The photo is seen in the round, wrapped around a white pillar that stands in for a tree. It powerfully makes the viewer consider their impact on the environment and mourn the loss of older trees that live to be as wide as the pillar or wider. Each of these photos was paired with tree sculptures. These tree sculptures were covered in wall paper like material and the limbs were held up with wooden crutches. I found them fascinating and engaging.

Events I have attended

The Science Center

I truly feel that the science center is an incredible intermedia space. The exhibits are engaging on multiple levels with a variety of media. They come alive with the interaction of the public. The hands on learning is executed perfectly. I really love how the science center has geared itself towards younger children. Despite the exhibits being geared towards children of varying ages I learn something every time I go. I decided to post Loki using binoculars, and driving a tractor.

Laura Vickerson - Rose Red Curtain

This piece was in the show human/nature. I had the pleasure of seeing it at the Kenderdine. The smell is incredible. She moisturizes all the rose petals individually so they last longer. I was reminded of her today when talking about my own work. This series of hers is very much about manual labour, she pins every single rose to the fabric and the result is stunning.

Lyn Carter

Lyn Carter. Through the Black 2009

I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Lyn Carter's work when it was at the Kenderdine gallery in Saskatoon. I was recently reminded of it at school and I adore how she manipulates fabric and found objects. http://www.ccca.ca/artists/artist_info.html?languagePref=en&link_id=1616&artist=Lyn+Carter

Betsy Greer

Goodmorning, I wanted to share some links to super art craftiness. The first is www.craftivism.com which was started by Betsy Greer. Betsy Greer has her MA in sociology with her masters dissertation being on knitting, DIY culture and community development. She is really fascinating and her work is very political. She has inspired a great deal of fiber artists and using the medium for social awareness and change.