MARK:
an installation of canvas-wrapped trees which invited the viewer to trace the changes in the ecological structure of a woodland in Massachusetts.
NORTH ADAMS, massachusetts
2007 - 2008
Situated alongside a short nature trail accessible to the public, a series of trees were wrapped in canvas during the winter of 2007. Inside each band of canvas, a silhouette of rare or extinct bird and the name of a nearby town was printed with walnut ink and iron filings. On the outside, visible to the viewer, was printed the year that particular bird was last seen in the area.
After the year-long installation, the canvas were removed from their own ontological realm of ‘experiencing’ the woodland, becoming epistemological artifacts of the installation.
At the end of the trail, the visitor learned about the absence of the hidden birds, and so were tacitly asked to reconsider their experience of the woodland in light of this new information.
