The Embodiment of Making Trail Art

The concept of embodiment emerges from the art forms of dance and drama.  In Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice by Patricia Leavy (2009), she notes that “the entire body can be viewed as an experiential and memory repository for what “we know” (p. 184).  In an effort to explore embodiment in the context of my current research project, which involves exploring the meaning of encountering art on a hiking trail, I participated in three different art-marking experiences recently.  I did so because I wanted to experience the act of making art that one might encounter on a trail in the woods.

In the first art-making effort, I made a hanging basket out of tree branches, based upon art that I had encountered on a hiking trail at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA. I noticed that the artist used flexible, tree branches and connected them with short pieces of wire.  I cut about 10 short branches from several saplings growing in my backyard.  Then I fashioned six of them together to form a hanging basket. (see figure 1 below).

The second project I participated in was an iron melt workshop at the Andres Institute of Art, Brookline, NH. This organization owns several miles of hiking trails on a former ski area.  These trails contain dozens of impressive art objects constructed out of stone, iron and other materials.  As a workshop participant I was given a block of hardened sand and a large nail, which was to be used to carve a figure into the sand. Once the carving was completed, I coated it with a solution containing graphite.The form was then placed outside in a bed of sand and leveled, waiting for the iron being melted in an outside oven to approximately 3,000 degrees. The final step involved the pouring of melted iron into the form, which was done by several workers wearing protective clothing.

I have provided 3 photos of the process below.  This first one shows the mold made out of sand, the second shows the pouring of melted iron into the mold, the last photo shows the finished product, note that it is in reverse of the mold.

These experiences of art-making were filled with meaning for me because I was completely unfamiliar with the processes involved before I started.  As I reflect on the actions of forming branches and carving sand, I cannot help but feel a deep connection to each object. I suspect it is because I fashioned these objects with my hands and my creative ideas.  I also feel that I "know" these objects well, which calls to mind Leahy's quote above referring to the body as a "repository for what we know" (pg 184).