The installation concept was to paint the plants along the driveway a bright color - either white, or a neon color. Something that didn't look natural and made it clear that this plant didn't belong in this setting. A nice perk is that the paint isn't particularly good for the plant either, and would probably kill it. Painting the plants would also make their physical form easy to see, so that people observing the piece could learn to identify invasive plants. Ideally, some of the invasives would be left in their natural state in the same area so that people could also see the leaf color, flowers, etc.
The driveway was a nice viewing platform because the parents sat out there every afternoon waiting for school to end so they could pick up their children. The installation continued around to an area in the back of the school, encircling the playground. Here, signage teaching the children about invasive species would be stationed. The children could learn about the project during school, and then when their parents picked them up and inevitably asked "What's with all the painted plants?", they would explain, bringing the educational component full circle and opening up a forum for discussion with the family.
I would love to see this idea applied in a more guerrilla style too, along interstates and other roads. It would be wonderful if a painted plant came to instantly be recognized as an invasive, that doesn't belong.
Aquatic invasive plants could be removed from the water, painted, allowed to dry and then gently replaced, to illustrate this version of the problem.
Below are some pictures of the concept around the elementary school:
 | ||
| Signage along the driveway...part of the initial concept. Later I decided to move the signage to the playground area, to make it more of a mystery to the parents, that the children would then explain. |
 |
| This little farm building was adjacent to the playground and had goats. |
 |
| A model constructed to show the layout around the school. |
No comments:
Post a Comment