In the midwest of the US, stacks of firewood are a common sight but Michigan artist Michael McGillis does something beautiful and unexpectedly different with a row of logs.This wonderful installation was originally exhibited at the Francoma Sculpture Park in Shafer, Minnesota and consisted of a 95 foot long trench of cut logs painted purple as if the logs were a new species of tree.
Curious to know more, I asked Michael why the piece is called Wake?
The title uses both meanings of the word. Referring to lingering turbulence in a disturbed natural system as well as a funerary ceremony to acknowledge the death of a physical space.
And why the colour purple?
The choice of colour for the end cuts had various influences. I wanted the presence of colour to suggest a lingering energy of human contact with the trees. And selecting purple was a response to what natural colours dominated the location at the time I built the work. And my desire to defy them.
Thanks Michael, and of course a Wake is a Celebration of Life...
"Curiouser and curiouser" as Alice said...I am forever amazed at the creativity of people and am always wondering the reasoning and thinking behind the choices of the artists who create them.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting piece of art. I'm fascinated by the thinking and reasoning behind it's creation.
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