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.