IN A POST-FIRE LANDSCAPE, SNAGS ARE ESSENTIAL TO RECOVERY.
The story of the forest is shared through the trees: torn, twisted, burned, clear-cut, replanted, and decayed. Inspired by the upright remains of a Western Red Cedar, this project explores the typologies of snag-hood using nominal lumber to amplify the difference between the fire-formed snags and logged stumps found in our forests.
MODELING & INSTALLATION
The installation was modeled out with 1/4" basswood at a 1"=1' scale. Modules were created using three vertical pieces of wood, ranging from 4" to 12". The modules were connected with either 1", 1.5", or 2" horizontal pieces. From there, the flare of the snag was formed from randomly-placed bracing.
This model informed the cut guide and wood purchasing. This project was cut with a miter saw and resulted in minimal cut waste.
Prior to installation, each piece was painted variations of yellow, black, or red.
The final assembly took only a few hours, with only three installers. It was assembled on-site with various levels to ensure stability.
This 4-week intensive program was based in Oregon in 2021. The first week consisted of various site visits to burned landscapes within the Willamette National Forest. In the second week, we studied our material palette, experimenting in the woodshop with joinery, tool abilities, paint finishes, and graphic application. We traveled to Seattle during the third week to gain further inspiration from museums and other Pacific Northwest landscapes. In our final week, we finalized our designs, purchased materials, and prepared our projects for installation.
We celebrated our work with family and friends during a final show at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum. Our work remained installed for the weekend, open to the public.
Photo by Ignacio Lopez Buson
Photo by Ignacio Lopez Buson
Photo by Ignacio Lopez Buson
2021: RECOVERY
A brief history of 2020: pandemic, police violence, protest, political division, economic recession, catastrophic wildfire. Through these events, landscape simultaneously fostered and required recovery – but the process is far from complete. Analogous to resilience, restoration, and regeneration, recovery is a return to some previous state – perhaps a new normal – and ever more complicated when applied to a medium as dynamic as landscape.
The 2021 Overlook program explored the transformation of recovery as it applies to productive landscapes – specifically forests recovering from wildfire. How do we care for the land? How does it take care of us? What is the meaning of recovery in the face of continual trauma?
Artist in Residence: David Buckley Borden, Program Director: Michael Geffel, Program Coordinators: Isabela Ospina & Nancy Silvers
See more work from the 2021 Overlook Field School HERE
Learn more about the Overlook Field School HERE
