Communal Mitosis

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In Clatsop County, as in many heavily logged areas, the population is highly divided in their feelings about the business. 

 

On the one hand, many people live in the area because they are awed by the natural forested environment. But other residents are supported by the high-paying logging jobs — jobs that have minimal education requirements. Many of these industry workers firmly believe logging to be environmentally sustainable. 

 

 Somehow, the precious Earth on which we all depend and share has come to be understood as another polarizing political issue. Forestry and timber, just another topic we don’t talk about with the neighbors. 

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Adaptation and Resilience: New shoots 

 

This art installation seeks to investigate the environmental ramifications and politicization of Clatsop County’s timber industry. 

 

Through the visual media of drawing and painting, as well as audio recordings and video footage, I have created representations of the old-growth mixed coniferous forests, and the environmental damage associated with clearcutting.  

 

The installation intends to transport the audience to the frontline of an ongoing battle: preservation and reciprocity versus the demands of a capitalistic world.

 

Entering a room separated into the environments of the old-growth and the clearcut, people will experience, both literally and metaphorically, a divide that defines much of Clatsop County. 

 

In an effort to make science more accessible and emotionally available to a broad audience, I hope this multi-sensory, interactive experience allows viewers to feel more engaged with a very complex topic. 

 

Especially in the face of ecological crises, the way forward must be to make research available, digestible, and emotionally relevant to the general population. 

 

 

The Installation

 

I invite you to 

Feel the forest floor beneath your feet.

Smell the earthy notes of wood. 

Listen to the sounds of rivers and oceans, birds and frogs. 

Hear the sounds of timber mills. 

See visuals of the intact old-growth temperate rainforest

And witness what remains after clearcut logging. 

 

The audience’s own presence within the space is the final component of the installation: 

 

You are an active witness, listener, and participant in the conversation.

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