Orange

4/26/2007

This was my first art installation in a public place. The woods are located in the Cook County Forest Preserve in Winnetka and Glencoe IL.

  • Original sketch
  • Installation notes
  • Swatch of custom cut fabric
  • Sign to describe installation

My thought was to have a bright splash of color set in an otherwise, monochromatic, “plain” type of environment. I have driven through this forest preserve for years. I imagined driving through and having this color catch the drivers eye and disrupt their expected experience…

This was early Spring and the woods are just beginning to transform from dormant, winter grey to very light green from emerging buds on the trees and underbrush. The orange ribbon winds for approximately 1/4 mile 50 feet from the roadside.

After seeing The Gates in Central Park I was absolutely inspired by its composition and notion of a path. I was also hit with the concept of “something extraordinary in a seemingly ordinary place”.