So often we think of design as simply something to make our places look better. Through Laura Summer, a New York artist, we learned of ARTinACTION, an artists’ project in New Orleans, using art to heal from devastation.

ARTinACTION’s latest project is by contemporary artist Jacqueline Bishop, and is titled “Field Guide.” It’s a site-specific installation designed by Ms.Bishop at the historical Milne Boys Home in Gentilly, LA. “Field Guide” will be celebrated with a formal unveiling July 26th from 3-6 pm on site with free refreshments provided by Whole Foods Market. Ms. Bishop writes:

“My vision for the Milne Boys Home was to paint the asphalt driveway with approximately 5000 simple black bird silhouettes that were individually cut from original drawings….The bird silhouettes covering the ground are designed to create a sense of birds in flight above, reminiscent of shadows coming from imaginary birds in flight. In reality these bird species would never interact with each other, but in this project the diversity of bird species migrating together symbolizes the need for human diversity to walk and work together to rebuild our landscape.” This taken the text is taken from Ms.Bishop’s artist statement on the ARTinACTION blog—you can read more at  http://www.artinaction-nola.blogspot.com

And here is a note from that artist, Laura Summer, who found true inspiration in design and art. (She also took these photos):

“I had been following the email updates from “ART IN ACTION” for the past six months, and I was fascinated by the project. Then in June I received an announcement that said, “volunteers urgently needed for Field Guide.” As one of my colleagues said, “ Yeah, you’re good at urgent”, so I booked a ticket and flew to New Orleans four days later.

 

What did I find? Elizabeth Underwood and Jacqueline Bishop, a small group of volunteers and Field Guide - a project stenciling thousands of birds onto the very long circular driveway at the Milne Boys Home.

 

 

 

Some days we were five people working, some days closer to fifteen. On our knees, on asphalt, painting sticky driveway paint in stencils that soon became gummed up and needed to be trimmed to reveal the delicate beaks and wing tips of these Louisiana birds. And it was hot. Except in the moments when the thunder crashed and we would grab the stencils and run to avoid the deluge. And each day the migration progressed along the drive, and the conversations progressed about art and the meaning of life, about our relationships to each other and whether the world can change. And I felt that I was privileged to be one of the pairs of hands (and knees) that was making this possible.

 

 

 

Now I am back in New York, back to my own canvases of color. But I can still feel the birds flying through me and I know that the world can change; it just takes our willingness to respond.

 

 

 

Laura Summer”

 

How about you? Anyone out there using art and design to do more than the obvious?

This post was written by the stylehound. This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.