Will Beckers

I ran across the work of Will Beckers the other day and really loved his work… it's similar in some ways to the work of Patrick Dougherty but it has a lot of it's own unique quality….

I think he's Dutch… or Belgian… in whichever case he speaks dutch so I can't really understand what he is saying in most of his videos about his work… but they are gorgeous even if I can't understand him lol...

Here's the blurb I found on his bio page off his website:

Will Beckers is an Art-in-Nature artist and sculptor, specialized in creating "green", living sculptures, and installations, using living organic material. Will has been working with "RAW" materials for the past 25 years. HIs love and respect for Nature started at a young age, he grew up in a family devoted to plant nurseries and floristry.

"I follow my passion by listening to the material, in this way art and nature are fused together. I interpret the processes of growth, life, metamorphose, decay, death and rebirth in my installation work."

An environmental artist - his work is an ode to Nature, he respects it and works in symbiosis with the natural world. His fascination with the macro world around us, is evident in his work. He challenges us to become aware of our surroundings, simple things we miss as we rush about our daily lives.

Will’s cradle to cradle environmental artwork; is often a living sculpture, growing organisms that stimulate us to challenge the relationship between individuals and our environment, he is confronting Nature with her own materials.

“I am a part-time artist, the other part of the time Nature does the work.” he says.

Will works with the local community, involving local children as an added ingredient to his land art projects. The children work with natural materials on location and are thus taken out of the comfort zone of the classroom, and their creativity is encouraged.

“Nature speaks its own language”, states Will, “This is a wonderful quote taken from a fascinating book, which I read when I was 14 and I have never forgotten it. From that moment on I knew I wanted to learn that language, now, so many years later, I am still following that same path; exploring, listening, seeing, but most important of all, learning from everything that grows and lives around us. We are part of Nature and her own language, there is an undeniable link. We should be speaking that language - the universal language.”

The exploitation and deprivation of man and the ever increasing gap between rich and poor around the globe, is mirrored in the exploitation and deprivation of nature and the our planet.

A sustainable way of life and improved living conditions on earth, can be assured with the reconciliation of mankind and the forging of a harmonious relationship between man and nature.

New forms of living can be achieved by solidarity between ourselves, and a sense of working in a community, in this way sustainable forms of life can evolve and new environmental technologies can become powerful tools to achieve this end. Working with natural materials in a positive, interactive, cooperative, and diverse way is the first step to making this a reality.

I couldn't find a lot of his work in a format I could post up here, but there are tons of images on his website…

http://www.willbeckers.com/Land-Art-Projects.html

Desert Wanderings

To continue on my desert art making… I took another day while I was home to go out again and see what I could find to get my hands into.. it was such a wonderful way of reconnecting to home, so peaceful and almost reverent in a way.

This trip was really rather amusing. I got it in my head that I wanted to head out into the desert again all alone and make some art… but it was pretty much on a whim and therefore I was totally unprepared. The clothes I was wearing were more fashion forward that desert practical, I had no sun block, no water, no map, no gloves (everything in arizona has prickers)… but somehow I still thought this was a great idea. It wasn't until I got out there, got out of the car and started walking around I realized how unprepared I was. I proceeded to wrap my scarf around my head like a scene out of a Christmas play and wandered off into the desert with no idea what I was doing...

This first thing that caught my eye while I was out was a cactus. When I lived in Arizona, I always sort of thought they were annoying… I mean they have really sharp needles on them and don't offer any shade. But coming home I was able to seen them in a bit of a new light, recognizing their will to live even in the most difficult of situations.

Right next to the cactus I found was a bush full of brightly colored flowers, again my amazement for the ability of something so beautiful to thrive and grow under such harsh conditions was breath taking.

I noticed the cactus had several holes in it, where birds and other animals had used it as housing against the elements and I love the idea of filling the hole with some of the flowers I collected… it a way is was almost like filling the whole in my heart that leaving home had left in me and symbolic of my roots and the fact that if this cactus and grow and thrive here, I can figure out a way to do the same wherever I may be living.



This next work I dubbed "Stop Here And Listen"… I think in life, I for one tend to go go go go all the time and the process of going out into the dessert alone wandering around with no one for miles collecting white stones, putting them together and then just taking a moment to be… was simply amazing… after I had completed most of the circle I coupe hiking randomly wandered past me and I'm pretty sure thought I was crazy with my fashionable clothing in the middle of the dessert, scarf wrapped round my head collecting rocks…




This next piece was my absolute favorite.

As I was wandering around I spotted a palo verde tree, one of the only trees that somehow is able to grow out in the middle of the desert. It has branches with long skinny tendrils that are very flexible. I cut off a few (well ripped off… I had forgotten a knife as well) and laid them on the ground next to me with no idea… I sat down in the little bit of shade the tree offered and started to play with them and ended up winding the ends together to form a circle… and it held all on it's own. I made another and another and joined them together in a long string. It reminded me of christmas and making paper garland from strips of construction paper to decorate out living room. After I had a decent amount of tendrils connected I started wondering what on earth I was going to do with them. I wandered around dragging the garland around behind me until I spotted a tree, sort of deadish looking and alone. I walked over and started to drape the garland on the tree running off now and again to collect more tendrils to increase the chain. The process was so calming and meditative as I wound each branch together, sort of like a rough version of crocheting.

When I was done, I was struck by the thought that I was decorating a lifeless looking tree with living branches… that somehow seemed very profound to me, but in the end it was the reverent quality that I most identified with. The act of honoring my home with a gift.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

I don't really think there is a person alive who isn't sort of magically captured by the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The shear magnitude of these works is staggering… and there is such an experiential quality to everything they create.

After my little escapade with street art I think that I really connect more so personally to what these two are doing, even though it is a much harder route to go with having to argue with silly people over permits and permission. In the end you still get to make street art… just sort of sanctioned street art I suppose.

I also think part of the magic of these works is in their ephemeral quality. They aren't going to be there forever, they are here for a time and then they are gone. They really force you to live in the moment and be mindful of that moment because it won't always be there to come back to again… and there is something so beautiful about that I think.

I remember from when I watched the gates the backlash these two had to go through with the public to get permission to put up their artwork… I don't think I could stand as firm as these two do through this entire battle… I found a little clip from Running Fence that has the same thing… The other thing that is crazy is THE TIME! I mean the footage from when they are getting these things in motion and dealing with all this craziness, to when they actually do the project the two of them have visually aged so much it's almost shocking...

A Desert Line Made By Walking

I think my favorite thing to do while I've been in Arizona is simply to go walking... There has been something so magical about coming back to a place that you didn't realize was so much a part of who you are until it was missing. As I've walked, there has been an essence of almost a spirit walk, a gentle guide going before me and speaking to me in the quiet, in the wind and in the rustling of leaves. I can't really even describe the sensation other than spiritual, like coming home and having the rest of the world melt away.

I've often joked with friends about the crazy settlers who saw this desert with its lack of shade, lack of water, and where all the plants and animals are either prickly or poisonous, and thought it was a great place to move here. Growing up here, I suppose I was jaded to its beauty in some way to be able to understand... This trip was the first moment it clicked in my head. The wide open spaces stretching as far as the eye can see off into the horizon seduce me and fill me with a sense of adventure and excitement in a way few other things can.

While I was walking I kept thinking back to Richard Long and couldn't help think how perfectly he must have understood this moment and how perfectly he was able to translate it visually in a way that is so powerful.

I love that simple act of carving your place into this earth and making a claim stating "YES! I was here!"

Andy Goldsworthy

Ever since I first saw his works, I have been slightly obsessed with Andy Goldsworthy. There is a sense of calm energy that runs through so many of his pieces that is energizing yet soothing at the same time. After watching Rivers and Tides I feel in love with him even more. I just love his attitude and his perspective on things, the way he feels his way through his environments and the sort of lighthearted goodnatured spirit he seems to have…. So after this interesting week of anxiety and stress I decided a little dose of Andy was exactly what I needed!















Really enjoyed this video interview done by the Tate Gallery… I could really just listen to him talk forever...:






When watching Rivers and Tides, I remember gasping at this part of the video… but in a way I also remember it making me feel really good inside that "real" artists have this sort of thing happen to them as well! I also think what he mentions about taking his works to the very edge of collapse is really beautiful as well…

Adventures In Knit Bombing...

This week, I took a step outside my comfort zone into the world of yarn/knit bombing.

I spent two weeks learning to knit and then creating enough fabric to do something with… then I set out to spread a little warmth in downtown Petersburg by putting up my creation.

Reflecting on the process, I had A LOT of fun learning to knit and found the knitting aspect of the project extremely meditative and enjoyable. The closer I got to completing my project, the more excited I got about putting it up.

However, I don't really think it set in until I went out to put it up that technically this sort of street art is still illegal, even if it is only soft fuzzy yarn. And more than ever I discovered through this process I just don't have the chops, or emotional courage to really be a true street artist.

I went out at night with my husband to put up the piece and was utterly terrified the entire time. My body started shaking so badly I couldn't hold onto the needle and it kept slipping from my fingers. (luckily I had anticipated this and knotted it onto the end of my string) Working as quickly as I could the piece was just so big it took me a good 20 mins to sew up the piece. When I got back in the car my body was shaking and my hands were still trembling. We got home and I just ended up sitting on the couch sort of traumatized by the experience. I had so much adrenaline that had pumped into my system I couldn't sleep all night.

This got me really thinking about things.

I contemplated the issue that perhaps I am just not as passionate about art as these other street artists… but after much self evaluation, I really don't think that is the case. I am more than willing to always stand up for what I believe, even if others are against me and I truly passionately love and believe in art.

I don't know what it is…

I drove back to where I hung the piece the next day to grab a picture during the daytime and tried to probe my feelings toward it again.

While there are aspects of it I found myself enjoying (mainly the idea of connection to a new place by putting my stamp on it in a way and giving it a gift of a personal warm embrace) there was still a part of me that felt queazy or sick to my stomach with anxiety…

I haven't really discovered an answer to what I'm feeling still… but it has been a fascinating personal learning experience.

Putting The Threads Together...

After reading up on yarn bombing, I spent the rest of this week trying to get my fingers to understand how to knit. Now that I've figured out the basics I'm excited to try out some ideas I have in the next couple of weeks.... I did have the idea though that I am much more adapt at sewing than I have decided I am at knitting and possibly thinking of trying out some "quilt bombs" lol...