CONTEXT:
Screenshot of March 11, 2020
These images are collages of not quite daily images. Since August of 2019 I have been recording my daily walks to Thorndike Field in Arlington with a simple phone camera. I take images of whatever strikes me that day, including shadows, flowers, shopping carts, trees, birds, ice, rain, clouds, trash, etc. I planned to document the change of seasons in color and shape in this place on the edge of town.
In the slideshows above the images are arranged chronologically from December 2019-March 2020, within themes culled from viewing the works as a whole. The themes are: PATH, THICKET, TREE, WILLOW, SKY, EDGE, ATMOSPHERE, SURFACE, GROUND, CLOSEUP, GOOSE, and HOUSE FINCH. The themes are loose, and could easily be rearranged. Some images can fit into multiple categories. They represent different areas within the larger sculpture.
Thorndike Field abuts the Mugar Wetlands at the border of Arlington, Belmont and Cambridge. Homeless people live in the woods between a neighborhood of two family homes, a playing field, and a highway. Invasive species of all kinds live here: wild rose, bittersweet, wild cucumber, garlic mustard, house finches, geese, starlings, etc., alongside native plants: poison ivy, burdock, goldenrod, silver maple, rabbits, bluebirds. It is a glorious mess that is mostly left alone. The area is also part of the Mystic River watershed.
Map of Mugar Wetlands, white space, Arlington.
Map of Mystic River Watershed, Thorndike Field at middle left
After taking many images I review the them to make composites/collages in Photoshop, trying to work intuitively and let the majesty and particularity of this neglected place come through in the work. For this review I have made collages up to March 31st.
Originally I planned to digitally print these images on sheer fabric at a scale of 24″ x 48″. Then I would hang them in the gallery space using lighting and placement to create a path with physical layers of imagery. I see them moving in the breeze created by bodies walking around them. The sculpture BIRD IN FLIGHT would share the installation space.
I bought a set of swatches to test print, but the digital print studio closed before I could access it this semester.
These are the most promising fabrics from the swatch book from Jacquard Ink Jet Fabrics.
Full Video of All Images Chronologically December 2019 to March 2020
(disclosure: this video is seven minutes long. I shared this to show the raw chronology of the images if you care to see it. )
WALK December 19-March 20 Thorndike Field_1 from Eileen De Rosas on Vimeo.