An outdoor festival April 22 at the internationally acclaimed Herbert Bayer Earthworks Park in Kent drew an excited crowd of onlookers.
They were there to see art on multiple levels: from a major new art installation by Mandy Greer, to the music of the Paul Rucker Quintet, to the performance of the acornDance troupe at sundown.
Crocheted from blue yarn and draped in the trees above Mill Creek, Greer’s Mater Matrix Mother and Medium is composed of “thousands of tiny moments and movements of individual citizens, integrated and interwoven into the natural environment,” according to an overview of the piece from a press release issued by the city of Kent.
Greer began installing this river of yarn at Earthworks Park during the Earth Day Volunteer Event April 17. The artwork was completed in time for the 40th Celebration of Earth Day April 22.
Paul Rucker is an interdisciplinary artist (cellist-bassist-composer-visual artist-creator of interactive sound/video installations). Rucker has released two critically acclaimed CDs of his compositions, and he composes new music presented in a way that allows the viewer-listener the opportunity to interact with the work (participants can trigger sounds with the wave of a hand, touch of a finger, or press of a button).
He also contributed the soundtrack to “A Place for People: The Herbert Bayer Earthworks.” He will be performing at Earth Day with his quintet.
Kristin Tollefson is interested in the relationship between humans and the environment. She has created numerous environmental art installations throughout the Northwest. As a public artist, she has created sculpture for the Magnolia Library and the Montlake Community Center in Seattle, as well as Lace Leaf Bike Racks located in historic downtown Kent. On Earth Day, Tollefson led a luminaria-making activity for children and adults. The motif of the luminarias was echoed in a site-specific art installation by the artist.
Aiko Kinoshita has been involved in contemporary dance for the last 20 years as a choreographer, performer, teacher, and arts administrator. Her choreography, has been presented nationally and in Canada, Korea and Japan.
The Earth Day celebration concluded with a performance by Aiko’s company of performers, acornDance. The performance began at the back of Earthworks Park by the amphitheater. As the dance progressed, the dancers led the audience to the edge of the double-ring pond, illuminated by candlelight.
Recognized around the world as an influential environmental artwork, Herbert Bayer Earthworks Park is now a local landmark.
As a Bauhaus master, Herbert Bayer’s entire career was dedicated to integrating artistic concerns into the everyday operations of society. With the Earthworks, he created a much loved public park, a stormwater detention dam and a modernist masterpiece. Installed in 1982, the Earthworks was immediately lauded for its fusion of art and infrastructure, making the installation a powerful precedent for engineers, landscape architects and artists.
Find more information about Herbert Bayer Earthworks Park, go to www.kentarts.com/earthworks. Also, look for Earthworks: Art and Landscape in the Green River Valley on Facebook and follow BayerEarthworks on Twitter.
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