Читать книгу Ten Huts - Jill Sigman - Страница 9

preface

It feels a bit odd to be creating a book about The Hut Project. The huts were impermanent, ephemeral. They were made with what was found, ready to hand, cast off by others. And they were about place and its spirit more than about a product. A book seems somehow more permanent. And yet it too has a mutable history—one that you will now become a part of. As a choreographer I am interested in that: fashioning an object that will find its way to people and connect us. I have come to see this book as facilitating movement on a whole new scale. A fitting continuation of the very process of building huts.

I was shocked to learn, however, about the environmental impacts of the paper industry and book and newspaper printing. According to the Green Press Initiative:

The paper industry is the fourth largest industrial source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

The U.S. book and newspaper industries combined require the harvest of 125 million trees each year and emit over 40 million metric tons of co₂ annually, equivalent to the annual co₂ emissions of 7.3 million cars.

The demand for paper is encouraging the practice of converting natural forests into single-species tree plantations that support only a fraction of the biodiversity.

If you would like to learn more, please visit: www.greenpressinitiative.org.

Hut #9, View from above.

L2 LAB/ALEJANDRA UGARTE

An ethical dilemma. How to share the work that I am doing without contributing to some of the very issues it raises? How to navigate the trade-offs? I worked with Wesleyan University Press to make as environmentally sound choices as possible in connection with this book. I discovered that the paper used is equivalent to 47 trees, so I planted 47 trees via the National Forest Foundation, and another 53 trees to help offset the carbon footprint of the printing process. But in the end, I wanted to connect with people I don’t know in different parts of the world in the modest hope that it could somehow plant some seeds. And a book is an ancient way to do that.

More people have already been involved in these huts than I can name or number. There were people who came to visit them, attended performances, or had tea; people who gave me things they were throwing away or let me take their garbage from the curb; people who volunteered in so many ways, who carried things, solved problems, or found uses for materials when the huts were dismantled; and people who took pieces of the huts home and reinvented them. There were also the people who initially discarded the thousands of objects that I built with, the people who once owned them lovingly or unthinkingly, the people who touched them or used them, the people who transported them or made them … I will never know these people. But I feel connected to them through this work and I am grateful to them.

There are many others, whose names I do know, whom I wish to thank—those who helped make The Hut Project and this book about it a reality. My tremendous gratitude goes to:

Each of the curators and hosts who, to my surprise, invited me to build a hut out of trash on their sites and supported my process with care and generosity: Chris Henderson, Hélène Lesterlin, Matthew McLendon, Lise Nordal, Ane Vigdis Øverås, Radhika Subramaniam, and Line Tjørnhøj.

The intrepid assistants and interns who held ladders, helped tie knots, shot video, or pushed carts of garbage with me, many of whom are artists in their own right: Jennifer Blankenship, Katie Buono, Tamara Cepeda, Michael Doo, Mads Eckert Hermansen, Ayriel Hunt, Meryl Lauer Lodge, Elisabeth Færøy Lund, Lene Brustad Melhus, Molly Schaffner, Larissa Sheldon, Oda Egjar Starheim, and Natalya Swanson.

With Matthew McLendon at Hut #10.

DANIEL PERALES

With Elisabeth Færøy Lund working on Hut #7 in uniforms found by Elisabeth.

ELISABETH FÆRØY LUND

The various community organizations that were involved in The Hut Project, especially: Arts in Bushwick, Concerned Citizens of Withers Street, Earth Matter NY, GEM, Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation, The National Congress of Neighborhood Women, NOTAM, O.U.T.R.A.G.E., Red Shed Community Garden, Rosenhof Skole, and St. Nicks Alliance.

All of the photographers who have photographed the huts, in particular these primary documentarians: Vanessa Albury, Eric Breitbart, Isabella Bruno, Lindsay Comstock, Rachel Eisley, Rafael Gamo, Louise Kirkegaard, Elisabeth Færøy Lund, Kaia Means, Daniel Perales, Peter Shapiro, Oda Egjar Starheim, Alejandra Ugarte, Jarred Wilson.

The five writers whose essays appear in this book who have kindly reflected on The Hut Project and shared their intellectual curiosity, interpretive acumen, and unique perspectives here: Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, André Lepecki, Matthew McLendon, and Elise Springer.

The artists who have collaborated with me on the huts and my related performances and videos, lending their own artistic visions and beautiful work to this project: Gustavo Aguilar, Cristian Amigo, Eva Bakkeslett, Ilona Bito, Joro Boro, Eric Breitbart, Donna Costello, Miguel Frasconi, Glass Bead Collective, Holland Hobson, Irene Hsi, Anice Jeffries, JOAN, Lene Brustad Melhus, Marisol Montoya, Jesse Sachs, Alyce Santoro, Molly Schaffner, Peter Shapiro, Larissa Sheldon, Skye, Vigdis Storsveen, Mary Suk, Amund Sjølie Sveen, Line Tjørnhøj, Austin Vaughn, and Kristin Norderval who created the music that allowed for magic in so many huts and dances.

The jill sigman/thinkdance Board of Directors for their unquestioning support and enthusiasm: Stan Katz, Ben Mellman, Jean Steiner, and Jasmine Ueng-McHale.

The dancers who have performed in the dances that have grown out of The Hut Project, for their physical intelligence and spirit of inquiry: Hadar Ahuvia, Danica Arehart, Maria Bauman, Corinne Cappelletti, Donna Costello, Sally Hess, Irene Hsi, Anice Jeffries, Kate Kernochan, Paloma McGregor, Larissa Sheldon, Mary Suk, and Devika Wickremesinghe.

Kristin Norderval working at her mobile sound station at Hut #6.

ODA EGJAR STARHEIM

Pam Tatge and Erinn Roos-Brown, formerly of the Wesleyan University Center for the Arts, who supported this and other projects with their characteristic vision and grace, and gave me the opportunity to teach in ways that have furthered this artistic work.

Isabella Bruno, Christina Ferwerda and the BRUNO team that created the exhibition “jill, why do you build huts?”

Chelsea Adewunmi, Karl Cooney, Kristen Holfeuer, and Jean Steiner for their steadfast administrative assistance in preparing this manuscript.

Janet Stapleton, who first suggested the idea of a book about the huts.

Dr. Yan for his kindness and generosity helping me deal with the effects of seven years of trash, and Dr. Amin, Dr. Branski, and Dr. Achlatis for their excellent detective work and caring.

The Bay & Paul Foundations (in particular Fred Bay and David Bury) and The Jerome Foundation who funded aspects of this work. Without their support it would not have been possible.

Everyone at Wesleyan University Press for their hard work, commitment, and environmental awareness, especially Eric Brooks, Amanda Dupuis, and my editor Suzanna Tamminen, without whose trust, wisdom, and collaboration this book would not exist.

The colleagues and friends who have always unwaveringly believed in my work, especially Joro Boro, Eric Breitbart, Sally Hess, Kristin Norderval, Bas van Fraassen, and Dana Whitco.

And my wondrous thanks to the hawks for showing me how to make my art into my life.

Jill Sigman, New York City