Mission: Final Project for 3D design.
Assignment: To work in nature. There were several rules given to us: it had to be outside, we had to use all natural items (no glue wire etc), we had to title the piece, and we had to break ONE of the rules. :)
Background info: When we were assigned this project my teacher played a completely inspiring movie about an artist named Andy Goldsworthy. This man works entirely in nature often times out in the wild where no one will see it. He preserves his pieces with photography and his story is amazing. If you are ever curious. You tube him... he's amazing. (three of his works below)
This morning I turned in my last and final project for 3D design. So, what was the magic ingredient this time? duh-duh-duh-da: Pine Cones. Yes, the real kind... the pokey, sappy kind... 400 hundred of them to be exact. So, what was I doing with 400 pinecones?
well....
First I strung them all together with wire...
Then I walked around campus staring at trees, bushes, and stairs. After I decided on a location, I hung them in this tree...
My first idea involved purchasing sod from Home depot and lining a section of a bridge on campus with grass. (what can I say I was excited) a couple phone calls later and I discovered that a single roll weighs 60 pounds.... that wasn't going to happen. So I hopped onto craigslist (love you craigslist!) and scrolled through the "free" section. I saw: soil, gravel, soil, bark, soil and pinecones. hmm... pinecones..... when I first saw this ad I did not think I would actually end up driving myself to vancouver, WA to meet up with a stranger and pick up pinecones from her yard. But I did, and it ended up bringing my project to life. I titled my piece "Debbie's Pine Cones." Debbie was a 60 year old lady, wearing purple sweats-suit and purple bandanna, living on 4 acres with one lama and 5 Alaskan malamutes. She felt that the pinecones were so pretty that she couldn't just throw them away. While cleaning up the pinecones from Debbie's yard I learned a lot about Debbie. Debbie was raised in this very house I was meeting her at, she moved out for two years of her life and then moved back and now owns the house. She used to have two lamas but the second died last summer which she discovered upon finding lama parts dropped off at her house from the coyotes. Then she proceeds to tell me that she couldn't afford to have his body taken away so it is still sitting on the hill beside her house. I learned that Debbie is a vegetarian but will eat fish because "the bible says its ok." :) Debbie apparently is a Christian. After telling her of my plans to eventually have my own wedding planning business she, in all seriousness, wanted me to hire her. "I wish I had a business card! I can type 50 words per minute and have an Associates degree in business." I assured her that my business would not be happening anytime soon. I had no idea of the joy I was bringing to this woman's quiet life until I was loading my car with the garbage bags full of pinecones. I gave her a $5 donation to help pay for the lama/dog food to which she grew entirely teary-eyed and hugged me. Wow, its amazing how art projects can take on lives of their own. You never know how one will be inspired or touched by your creation. Clearly, this project was about Debbie and her pinecones and after stepping back and looking at the pinecones on the tree and all its un-impressiveness, I learned that some projects are more about the process than the outcome. This was definitely one of those projects.
Ahhh art.... mmm mmm good. nothing like it. Am I right or am I right? :) Happy Monday everyone!
Love,
Katie
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