For one of my last projects in Finland I got the opportunity to work at a nature research center. I had no idea what to expect, but by this point I was already way outside my comfort zone. Upon arrival we were told that while we were working we had to wear a heart monitor. Immediately I thought weird....but ok. They wanted to track how the art practice affected our stress levels. Clearly this was shaping up to be quite the peace and love mother nature type project.
The point of this project was to work with local resources and alter the natural landscape. At this point I was a little skeptical. The project leader then went through her presentation of what was possible and changed my mind. We were to work with rocks, sticks and dirt to create a scuplture. I knew right away that I wanted to create a stand alone woven willow sculpture. I had never worked with the material before so planning was a bit vague. I prefer the trial and error method when working with something knew. The happy accidents are always so much better than the planned outline.
We threw a few ideas around, but nothing really grabbed my attention. The group leader then suggested we build a waterwheel as tribute to the one that once stood there. I thought that shape was a good combination of interest and skill. Overall it was a great experience and I'm happy with the result. I hope that it is solid enough to withstand the elements and curious tourists. The manager of the research center said that he would keep it for as long as it was safe. I will have to check on it sometime.
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