Becoming the Path

I-Park Sculpture Park, East Haddam, CT, October 2007

Acrylic paint on sticks 18-40 inches in length, installed along 100 ft of pathway

Becoming the Path juxtaposes text onto landscape in an environmental installation. White sticks guide viewers along a pathway at a sculpture park, creating an intimate connection with the woods and bringing the vast scope of nature to human scale. Varying branch lengths are stood into the ground and painted white to distinguish them from the landscape. These long and short vertical sticks become the visual equivalent of the signals of Morse code, dashes and dots capable of transmitting information. Although the installation can be experienced by means of action alone, deeper wisdom is gained through additional knowledge, learning and reflection. This self-reflective artwork communicates the words of Buddha “you cannot follow the path until you become the path itself.” Viewer, action and environment are connected through an idea where being and doing are equivalent.