ASHLEY BEATTY AND JEFF SCHOFIELD
PlySpace and Mid-Indiana Trails (MINT) joined forces to provide an outdoor installation of permanent and temporary sculptural installations by PlySpace Summer 2020 Residents, Ashley Beatty and Jeff Schofield.
During their residency at PlySpace in August 2020, Beatty and Schofield installed sustainably themed artworks along the south shore of Prairie Creek Reservoir where the Mid-Indiana Trails (MINT) are located. Visitors to the MINT hiking and bicycle trails saw a series of artworks made from natural materials and found objects that investigated human transgressions of natural settings. Signage was posted along the trails identifying the locations of the work.
The project was located at Prairie Mountain Bike Trailhead. The work could be found at the eastern end of Prairie Creek Loop 1, in the "Maple Grove.” Beatty and Schofield hosted a self-guided walking tour of the sculptures on Saturday, Aug. 22, with a short artist talk and Q&A at 2 p.m.
Mid Indiana Trails was selected as a partner for this project due to the artists' desire to work at a site that contemplates human transgressions in a natural setting. David Bradway of MINT noted, "Mid-Indiana Trails is very excited to be able to partner with PlySpace and provide an area for their resident artists to create. Ashley and Jeff have created incredible installations that are expressive while also fitting in well with the natural setting of Prairie Creek Trails."
Trespasser. Found Tree.
The artists dissected a fallen tree trunk by cutting it into segments that were spread out sequentially where it fell in the woods. This minimalist artwork expresses a singular act of slicing a tree trunk into sections. The installation distills the conversation about deforestation, forest fires, and waste of natural resources to a basic act of aggression.
Mycorrhizal Networks. Paracord, Trees.
In Mycorrhizal Networks, a group of trees have been tied together with paracord creating an artificial canopy overhead. The installation expresses notions about Forest Mycorrhizal Networks, a root-based form of consciousness linking plants in local ecosystems. Plants communicate through the mycorrhizal network in a similar manner to data traveling through color-coded wires in electronic networks.
Core Markers. Concrete, Found Objects, Found Materials, Plaster
The permanent sculptural installations include dozens of sculptural trail markers made from forest materials and discarded plastic items found in the woods. These markers have been strategically placed by the side of the pathways like a series of core samples showing sediment layers beneath the forest floor.
Steppingstones. Concrete, Found Objects, Found Materials, Plaster
A series of stepping stones have also been laid across Prairie Park Creek for visitors to explore. They will be made from a similar mix of natural and manmade items to create a group of sculptural objects intruding upon the stream. As such, they embody a physical expression of human transgressions in the landscape.
Gordian Knot. Found materials and objects.
The artists have also wrapped a series of tree trunks with upcycled plastic items, involving an acre-sized grove of trees. The colorful installation represents the bondage of trees as a metaphor for human bodies and expresses the restriction of natural growth cycles. It questions the sustainability of our globalized culture focused on overproduction and mass consumption.
In a tragic end to our installations in the forest, some local inhabitants threw away two of our artworks, just as we were preparing to deinstall them in March 2021. The two artworks, titled “Gordian Knot” and “Mycorrhizal Network”, involve a thousand colorful plastic found items and a hundred multi-colored paracords tied to mature tree trunks. Our plan was to conserve the bright art materials and recycle them into future projects. They now sit in a landfill, however, which is exactly what we planned to avoid. Ironically, the artworks criticize overproduction and waste of plastic, metal, and other artificial items. We never imagined people would defy the purpose of our art pieces and discard them with precisely the polluting effect they served to criticize. As environmental artists we are intrigued by such an unexpected event in the life of our public artworks.
So what went wrong? Signs were posted at several locations in MINT trails asking visitors to respect the artworks nearby. Even so, some people destroyed the installations, and did so following intensive social media discussions about them. Most liked the concept of public art in the forest, some called them “interesting”, others thought they were “trash”. We know now that the detractors actually saw the signs, but apparently they saw no art. Sadly, the installations were removed but not the real litter of cans and wrappers strewed along the trails. MINT conducts forest clean-up events with public participation every six months, but the number of participants can be counted on one hand.
We perceive successes as well as failures in this project. Successes include provoking people to notice the artworks, to discuss them, and hopefully think about some of the environmental issues they highlight. Failures include the apparent vagueness surrounding our ecological intentions, the seeming ambiguity of our artistic expression, and the lack of effective communication about our sustainably themed public artworks. Yet we have no regrets. As professional artists we are gratified that our installations evoke multiple interpretations and even generate public actions. We move our art practice forward, stronger in our resolve to create ever more provocative environmental artworks that will impact, and hopefully improve, the imperfect world in which we live.
-Jeff Schofield and Ashley Beatty
