With this project, our goal was to creatively “make our mark” on nature in a non-invasive, non-destructive, and temporary way. We drew from the idea of “tag
ging” and graffiti artist’s way of altering a pre-existing surface. We also incorporated the idea of wrapping, inspired by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, in order to establish our own “tag” on nature. By using materials that I already had, from parts of my “fabric collection,” we were taking a part of our own environment and placing it in the natural environment to create this drastic contrast in not only color and texture, but also in material.
We were first drawn to the location that we chose, at the top of Howard’s Knob, because of its beau
tifully colored moss all over the trees and rocks. We wanted to complement these naturally existing cool colors with the vibrant warm tones of the man-made fabric and yarn. We also chose a specific group of trees to work on, which seemed to b
e sprouting straight out of the boulders. We used the same yarn to wrap all three trees, as well as a portion of a boulder in the distance, in order to unify the space
, create a oneness, as well at define the area of our “tagging.” Amidst this strong unity, we played around with some variety to create slight imbalances. By adding varying materials and fabrics to intertwine the wrapped yarn we emphasized certain areas of the trees and composition with this variety.
As for its location, our installation exists beyond the closed gates of Howard’s Knob Park during this time of year. We want our audience, those who had to have climbed the fence in order to see the view from atop this mo
untain, to be presented with an unexpected work of
art. We also aimed to create a sense of curiosity in our viewers, especially with our choice to bring t
he wrapping of the string down to a more distant location ont
o the boulder, which draws the eye away from the main focal point of the three trees.
We are happy with the way this project turned out. Atop of the mountain, the yarn and fabric blows beautifully in the wind and reminded us of Tibetan Prayer Flags, which further complements the gorgeous views that Howard's Knob offers. We are quite pleased with the way that we brought pieces of our own environment into the natural environment in order to effectively leave our mark in a non-disturbing or destructive way, versus other types of "tagging" such as graffiti done with spray paint.
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