Native – Invasive
» Forest Art Wisconsin is a series of events dealing with the idea of Nativeness and Invasivness from an ecological, social and artistic perspective. «
CONFERENCE: April 20th and 21st, 2007 at the Arboretum of University of Wisconsin - Madison
ARTISTS SYMPOSIUM: May 29th till June 15th, 2007 on Raven Trail in the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest
OPENING WEEKEND of Forest Art Wisconsin: Sat / Sun June 16th and 17th, 2007 on Raven Trail
GUIDED TOURS and duration of Forest Art Wisconsin until the fall of 2007
The Conference
Native - Invasive: Perspectives on Art and Nature, Culture and Curating will create the academic background for the symposium happening in May/June of 2007. Four panels will bring together artists, curators, foresters and environmentalists in discussing: The Future of the Forest, Sustainability and Design, Native/Invasive and Recreation - Public acess to Art and Environment. There will be speakers from Germany, Canada and the USA in dialogue. The two German speakers are from Hessen, Wisconsins partner state, Peter Fischer, Forester and Forest Pedagoge, Darmstadt and Dr. Jutta Weber, Geologist and member of the UNESCO Geopark Odenwald - Bergstrasse. The team of the Arboretum will offer two guided tours on the woodlands and the native gardens. Registration is adviced but not needed.
Forest Art Wisconsin 2007 - Native/Invasive will be a three week artists symposium in the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest close to Minocqua, followed by a period of time with guided tours and pedagogigal projects for children and adults. About 20 international artists from Germany, Finland, Argentina, the USA and artists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty will create an installation or performance piece on the Raven Trail.
The site specific works will be e.g. two giant walk in turtles, a white textile construction, signs about endangered species and an installation with ash trees. They will stay in the forest for at least the summer and some of them for longer periods of time.
The idea originated in the “International Forest Art Path” in Darmstadt, Germany, in 2002, and takes place every two years. Since the beginning, Wisconsin artists participated and were involved in the project. Now the “Verein für Internationale Waldkunst e.V.” will cooperate with
Forest Art Wisconsin in bringing international artists to Wisconsin and create a working environment in the northern forest. It will be an experimental art laboratory that encourages scientists and specialists to participate in the “Native/Invasive” project.
The three main themes of Native/Invasive for Forest Art Wisconsin are:
- ecological aspect: native/invasive behaviour in nature, especially in fauna and flora
- social aspect: native/invasive in terms of history, social setting and migration
- artistic aspect: native/invasive behaviour of art in the forest and in natural settings
Native/Invasive will provide the opportunity to work with the species and plants of the forest, to reflect invasive behaviour towards nature and in nature, to think of native and invasive treatment in ecological and social settings, to use native and invasive materials, to consider sustainability and ecological equilibrium, to see nature in connection to art as native or invasive matter.
Curator
Ute Ritschel from Darmstadt, Germany, is presently Artist in Residence at the Art Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is organising the conference "Native/Invasive" and curating Forest Art Wisconsin as part of her residency.
