Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

“Repurposed:” A Show at the AVA Gallery

Tuesday, April 10th, 2018

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    The AVA gallery in Lebanon, NH, will be home to some of my work from April 27th through May 30th. An opening reception will be held on April 27th from 5-7 pm. The show will be a continuation of my exploration of art using repurposed materials. As part of my work for COVER, a White River Junction-based nonprofit that helps repair homes of vulnerable residents, I find myself making frequent trips to the dump, to dispose of excess materials. Seeing this as a waste, I have begun setting aside materials that could still have some utility as materials for sculpture and art.

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I have been intrigued by these materials, not only because I don’t like watching them go to waste, but also because of the interesting effects that time and the elements have on them. The roofing that I am currently working with, for example, is worn in a way that makes it continually interesting to look at. The galvanized metal develops interesting patterns and marks over years of exposure to the elements, giving it nuance. Each unique piece brings its history with it to the sculpture.

    For the upcoming show, I have been experimenting with large forms, as the show will fill two rooms at the AVA gallery. While these pieces are made from repurposed wood and discarded metal roofing, my primary interest is exploring how these forms can be expressed and how they engage with the spaces they are set in.

Responding to Climate Change at Middlebury College: “Hot and Cold” and “Hope Wheels” for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the oldest Environmental Studies Program in the United States

Thursday, October 15th, 2015

It was an honor to be invited to assist in the celebration of Middlebury College’s 50th anniversary of its Environmental Studies Program by doing the following two projects on October 1st and 2nd. It is the oldest Environmental Studies Program of any college in this country.

Hot and Cold

 

“Hot and Cold” is the latest iteration of a body of work that is responding to climate change. How is our civilization dealing with climate change? Perhaps “Hot and Cold” is a good way of thinking about it. Making climate change a political issue and then denying that it is currently being caused by our actions is one way some people are choosing to live with this question. Conversely many others are starting to reconsider everything, from the way we grow food, to where we live, to national security and indeed all systems that sustain life as we know it. It is with this latter train of thought that I am aligned and out of which this project grows.

Here are some of the questions this piece is meditating on: Do we adapt to the changes? Will we mitigate by taking radical actions and succeed in averting a total disaster? How attached are we to the status quo? Can we live without wildness? What are we leaving for others? How do we address the suffering of most of the world’s people and living things? Will technology save us? Can we make sustainability fun?

I chose the complements orange (hot) and blue (cold) because they are opposites on the color wheel. The tension of a hot orb surrounding a cold and defined, but diffuse core is intended to be alarming and – like a target – catches our attention. I am using saplings, plywood, and dimensional lumber because I am attracted to the accessibility of these materials. The organic lines of the saplings are a feature I find particularly interesting. I like how each sapling is unique yet as a whole the ensemble reads as a precise circle. I have been using saplings in my pieces because they are a renewable material. These saplings are striped or moose maple. They came from a friend’s land that appreciated the thinning I did in selecting them.

Hope Wheels

 

The “Hope Wheels” are a simple way for folks to express what they love about what exists here and now. Perhaps by taking time to think about what one holds most dear, there is a chance that someone may be called to fight for the survival of that thing. Passersby – including many Middlebury students, faculty, staff and community members – were invited to write or draw on these strips of cloth the names of animals, plants, habitats, cultures, ecosystems, bodies of water, land forms, seasonal features, loved ones, shelter, food, heath, or anything else they valued about the community of life. In the same way that Buddhist Prayer Wheels spin prayers and good thoughts over the land, these Hope Wheels can be used in a similar way. They also can be used as processional elements in demonstrations or celebrations.

Participant Testimonials

“Having Jay on campus for two days was tremendous for Middlebury. The participatory art – Hope Wheels – created a coming together of students, faculty, staff and townspeople in a social and celebratory way. Those who created banners of gratitude for the Wheels were clearly having fun and being thoughtful and thankful at the same time.

Jay’s brightly colored sapling sculpture, Hot and Cold, which now hangs on the wall of our Franklin Environmental Studies building is strikingly beautiful and is loved by everyone I have spoken with. It fits the space perfectly, complements the wall and the surroundings, and adds color, texture and shapes that draw in the viewer. I see many people stop to enjoy and consider the artwork as they are passing by.

From the feedback I’ve received, our entire community is thankful for both Jay’s lasting creation and for the participatory, community art he developed for us. His artistic contributions to our Environmental Studies 50th Anniversary Celebration will long be remembered by those of us who took part in the creating, and Hot and Cold will be the most lasting part of the week-long event. Bringing in Jay and his art added to the community aspect of the anniversary and went well beyond what we had imagined!”

– Marc Lapin, Middlebury Environmental Studies Professor

“I love Hot and Cold because I feel like it adds light and color to an otherwise pretty banal wall. I’ve had a lot of people come tell me that they hope it is a permanent installation because it looks so beautiful – especially when the light hits it in the evening and the orange looks more brilliant than ever. I also notice that it complements the other art installation on that wall (the one of hills of recycled tires) and to me they come together to be like the mountains and the setting sun.

What I like about the Hope Wheels is that they’re a compilation of so many different peoples’ positive sentiments; each one is different, and from drawings of tree branches or sun and mountains to hundreds of scrawled words, the content of the strips really comes together nicely. It recently rained and some of the marker on the strips ran a little bit. Instead of detracting from the installation, it added more color to make the Hope Wheels even more striking.”

– Matia Whiting, Middlebury first year student

“I have actually heard from a lot of students that they love Hot and Cold and think that its color brings a lot of energy to the campus in a spot that so many students pass by each day. Personally, it brought me a lot of grounding energy the other day when I walked by it on a grey, dreary day. I think that the ephemerality of the piece, being made of saplings, is so fitting to the environmental studies program.

I also walked by the Hope Wheels yesterday and stood under them for a second reading what people had written. It was a great reminder on a campus that hardly takes time to think about what we’re grateful for or passionate about, that each person has a place or thing they love. It’s a reminder in a place that seems only focused on work that we’re all working towards something, and that those ideas are harmonious. I loved having the community contribute together to the piece. I saw students who weren’t artists contributing to something creative and people stepping out of their routines and looking up from their phones (sometimes) to take the time to write out a “hope.” The installation process was such a bright spot of creativity and hope on campus. I really hope that the administration leaves the disc piece there for as long as it survives in the weather. Overall, thanks for bringing all of that energy to campus.”

– Jenny Moffett, Middlebury fourth year student

Miller Worley Environmental Leadership Lecture: On the Art of Sustainability at Mount Holyoke College

Saturday, February 28th, 2015

Jay Beach ArtPRESS RELEASE – In the many challenges we face in the future, creativity is at the forefront for helping us understand and develop solutions for a healthier planet. The creativity needed for a sustainable people and planet is an art form which encourages new methods of thinking.

On Thursday, April 9th, Environmental Artist Jay Mead will discuss the “Art of Sustainability,” stimulating exploration and creativity as essential approaches for achieving personal and professional goals, for creative problem solving and for better understanding and working with systems. According to Mead, “Creative problem solving is essential for addressing the many challenges we face in bringing about a sustainable future for people and planet. Sustainability is an art. And art helps us break through old ways of thinking to get to sustainable solutions. Sustainability should be inspiring, fun and so fully integrated into the way we live that we will no longer need the word. This is work that engages our hearts and minds.” Mead is this year’s Miller Worley Environmental Leadership Lecture, sponsored by the Miller Worley Center for the Environment.

The talk will take place on April 9th at 7:30pm in Cleveland Hall, Room L2, on the campus of Mount Holyoke College. Mead’s lecture will be followed by a Community Art Installation on April 10th from 10am-5pm in the Mount Holyoke College rose garden (rain site: entrance to the Art Building). Everyone is welcome to participate!

While on campus, Mead will also facilitate a workshop in Geography 312: Sense of Place, Sense of Planet. “I invited Jay to lead a workshop in my seminar because I wanted to provide students with an opportunity to think about sustainability through another lens, engage with a different way of knowing, and gain greater fluency in considering complex challenges in creative ways,” says Serin Houston, MHC Professor of Geology and Geography.

Mead has been creating environmental art for over 30 years. He has worked with Bread and Puppet, Cristo, The PuppeTree and was a core member of Wise Fool Puppet Intervention. His work has ranged from large installations to processions and performances. Aside from the USA, he has participated in projects in Germany, the Czech Republic and Brazil. He majored in Visual Studies at Dartmouth College and has held artist residencies in both Painting and Sculpture at the Vermont Studio School and Skidmore College, respectively.

This series of events is co-sponsored by the Departments of Geology and Geography, Art, Environmental Studies, and Architectural Studies, the Office Student Programs, and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. For more information, please contact Ruby Maddox at 413-538-3091. See Mt. Holyoke’s announcement of the event here.

Keynote and “The Waste Stream:” Earth Day at Humboldt State University

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

For Earth Day, I was invited to Humboldt State University in Arcata, California to deliver a keynote address on my “Art of Sustainability” approach and to co-create an installation with students to raise awareness about the plastics flowing through our lives (and into the ocean). I am grateful to organizers and to the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund for making my participation possible.

You can download and view my keynote presentation here: Humboldt Keynote, Jay Mead, April 2014.

“The Waste Stream”

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Waste Stream, 1

“The Waste Stream” installation simulates plastic waste flowing westward into the Pacific Ocean, where there is a monstrous mass of plastic accumulating in something known as the “Pacific Gyre.” The installation was created in a few hours and is kinetic in that the wind moved the five long tentacles of bottle chains. Some 1,500 bottles make up this piece, which stretches a few hundred feet and flows down two sets of stairs.

I liked the fact that it was sprawling on the ground and forced people to notice what was happening and where they were walking. Most folks stepped over the strands carefully while others – like skate boarders – saw it as something to have fun with and jump over.

The folks who stopped by and talked to me about the project engaged in varying degrees of conversation from light to deep, including talk of complex systems going into political, religious, cultural and even evolutionary roots. One participant commented:

“You touched on a question that has been on my mind: How can art activate memories that remind us of how we are connected to this planet?  Once that awareness is activated, turning it into engagement, is the big challenge if we are to move from being passive observers to participants in making our human presence more sustainable.”

I really enjoy engaging with people as I co-create a large piece. It’s wonderful to begin the day of creation not knowing how it will turn out, but having faith and then being pleasantly surprised to discover new aspects such as the role of the wind.

Architecture Class at The Sharon Academy

Monday, March 17th, 2014

I recently had the opportunity to teach an elective Architecture class at The Sharon Academy in Sharon, Vermont. Each of the 8 students completed two projects, one based in fantasy, the other in reality. The first was to design and build a model of a fantasy tree house. The second was to design an artist-in-residence cabin for possible construction on The Sharon Academy campus. Students visited the future site for the cabin to plan a residence footprint no bigger than 800 square feet. Then, they generated drawings and models of their proposed cabins and presented them to classmates, a visiting architect and school administrators:

Through an exciting collaboration with the Harpo Foundation, the school may draw inspiration from the students’ designs to build the actual cabin!

Thanks to Amber Wylie for her photography and slideshow video!