Monday, July 28, 2008

Notes from Ohio Tree Farm




Finally I have the chance to post images from Ohio where I worked on a collaborative project at the Harold Arts Center which is on a tree farm in rural Appalachia. It was good to be back in this strange corner of Southeast Ohio where I once lived for one year selling furniture and making art. While working on the project which was installed in this old church, I had the opportunity to take some pictures on a warm, sticky afternoon before the installation got underway. The only sound was the drone of wasps floating through the gaps between the rafters and roof. I doubt this building will be standing much longer, but it marks an interesting intersection between nature and religion in American thought since the preacher was also one of the nation's first sustainable tree farmers. Next week I will post images of another sustainable farm in the area, only this farm was also a mental institution. This is a wonderful part of the country to make art from because it has such a very rich sense of place, partly because of the isolation of the whole region. To read more about the Harold Arts Center, click on this link to a recent article in the Chicago Reader:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/ourtown/080228/