Weaverbirds Collective was founded in 2018 by a community of international artists creating organically formed land art installations, sculptures and festival decor. The material used come from invasive species, consciously harvested to prevent further germination as well as the deforestation of valuable land.
1. What is your main mission?
“Young people doing Land Art? I thought nobody was doing that anymore!”
This is the answer we received from an art expert some time ago after speaking about our work. Land Art is a form of art that became known in the sixties, centred around rejection of the commercialisation, and rather paralleling with the ways of minimalism and the enthusiasm with an emergent ecological movement.
Sustainability and site-specific Art are part of the core of our research. As artists, we noticed how effective it is for us to make big structures for a big audience that can be completely immersed in the space and the movement created by the artwork. However, we also know how much plastic and resin materials are normally used to make big art installations. Nowadays we think we cannot create without considering the environmental impact of our art. Being able to recycle, or up-cycled objects is still important but we believe that art, like all the other aspects of our lives, needs to be sustainable and in equilibrium with nature.
2. Could you define land art, the origins of its philosophy and especially the appreciation given to the environment?
Land Art, all so known as Nature Art or Earth Art, is a practice in which the artist(s) works with materials of an organic matter, commonly found in the natural environment they’d be working in, mostly in an outdoor setting, and/or creating, inspired and guided by the environment [Land]. This is to point out that just like natural materials ranging from branches, ice to mud the natural elements play it’s factor in the art form, like shadows [sunlight], wind and fire…
Although there are discussions on the true origins of the art, as we acknowledge ancient masterpieces such as Stonehenge, and the Mexican Pyramids, the art movement was first established in the late 60s early 70s. This is when art such as Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty began to emerge, where actual land was laid in the matter of the artist's choice of mark making on a large scale. Naturally, Land Art has been shaped and developed over the years, as we see it as rather an expandable practice [...] The key notion of Land Art practices it can be understood as a spatial visualisation of the relationship between nature, culture and social policies.
Our idea is to rethink Land Art in a contemporary key, re-introducing the theory with a combination of new age practices and philosophies. As a response to the environmental crisis we are facing in our society and look to re-connect humankind’s respect for Mother Nature.
" key notion of Land Art practices it can be understood as a spatial visualisation of the relationship between nature, culture and social policies."
3. You state on your website that your common “work’s ethos involves being
environmentally site-specific”, what is so important in working at the local scale? Please tell us more about the sculptures made in the European context.
Essentially we prefer to work from and with that land we find ourselves creating in, in a means of maintaining waste, and seeking inspiration from the potential history, stories and atmosphere of the place. Rather creating resourcefully from what we gather in the surrounding area and neighbouring community to the project.
For instance the project called Aurora was made during our stay at Stone Oven House Art Residency in Rorà, Italy. All of the willow material was sourced and harvested from the farmlands within the valley of Torre Pellice. Engaging and sharing with the local community in this is fulfilling and only connects us deeper geographically to the area and always spills into the concept that we develop along with the process.
Conceptually Aurora, a willow woven sculpture of a lady with a flower in place of her head, symbolizing a crown to honour the women healers/artists/witches that came before us that allows us to create with such freedom today. As we further researched the local historical stories of such women. During the residents exhibition, the Aurora project told of a story of the “Great Goddess” who spoke though the artists’ and therefore represented by the sculpture, as a reminder to the local population to hear the calls of the woods and return to their ancestral roots of perceiving and living with the land.
Engaging locally and connecting deeply with the land allows for the environment and social matters to speak through us and the sculptures or installations created, leaving behind a piece that is for the people of that area and/or as a blessing for the ancestral beings of that land.
4. You also mention the combination of “skills in design, concept, carpentry and fabrication” of the artists. Could you further describe the process when you are working in a collective manner? How do you decide about the orientation of the project?
Just as we like to think we collaborate with the land, it is the same for each other, openly and with respect. Objectively this came from a place to fill up each other’s cups, so to say, enhancing each other's creative skills. With this when it comes to the orientation, it comes together quite naturally as everyone is uplifted to do what their best at as it thrills them. Of course there are some who do more work in planning than others, but that is their skill. We see each other as equal creatives with different qualities that mix and match into something that not one of us would have had in mind, but rather a combining image of everyone’s projection. Open communication is a key factor toward relinquishing control, and we have and will continue to learn from this.
To give a more transparent answer, Kiara is curator of the collective and runs most of the organisations along with co-founder Valentina, seeing as they are the only two members in close premises to each other in the world current status. Everyone in the group is seen as a creative partner and are welcome to design, engage and use the resources available.
5. What do you want to convey through your art installations (ideas, emotions)? Why do you find the wood to be a good mediator for it?
Creating together and simultaneously with Nature as our guide feels safe and healing for us. And we would only want to convey this experience onward. To facilitate a feeling of ‘safe-space’. It allows us to exercise patience and concentration, in a meditative state where nature is the tool and the space, specifically the hard wood materials we prefer to work with. Each stick becomes a third dimensional drawing line to the group creation as a meditative and somewhat telepathically dance amongst us. We believe that this creates the energy and life to the art work, that with the intended concept comes out, revealing its own aura to the piece as it remains. This brings us to note that our sculptures literally live, they are ‘alive’ creatures that keep changing with the seasons, decomposing and returning to nature once more.
"Each stick becomes a third dimensional drawing line to the group creation as a meditative and somewhat telepathically dance amongst us."
Creating a strong concept behind the sculpture helps create a deeper feeling and idea that is felt by the artists making it and by the public experiencing it. From the beginning of our planning, we put the intention in creating a well-thought-out concept that develops during the construction and is almost physically part of the structure itself. The base concept becomes a story and the story creates the magic, the depth and the motivation necessary to use our art as a catalyst for communication about our environment.
6. Please tell us more about the development of your personal skills in working with natural resources. What have you learnt so far and what knowledge could you transmit to future generations ?
We definitely learnt how important it is for us humans to spend time with nature for your personal health. Taking care of nature and working with it on a physical and emotional level makes you feel you are really part of a whole network of the natural and human world. As well as the joy of it we do what we do to send an inspirational message to the future generations of artists to see a more ecological art world.
7. As an art collective, how do you perceive your relation to society ? Do you feel in sync with the aspirations of the younger generations ?
We think that the collective consciousness is inevitably going towards a more nature nurturing world and in this sense we feel in sync with this new energy. In a bit of a provocative way our view is also to reinvent the old Land Art run mostly by heterosexual white male practice into this new queer/fem art movement that we call New Land Art. Making art with land allows us to be active in the sustainable art discourse and bring expression for those as seen as the minority.
8. On a blog post about AfrikaBurn (2018) you describe the final act of your art installation like a ritual, almost an intimate ceremony. Why does the realisation of the artwork push for a necessity for connection to the people and the place surrounding you?
The artwork itself once made exists in the space in an independent way...
Through the ceremonial act we created a specific environment and atmosphere holding space for a special moment for the artists, the public, the artwork and mostly the land to connect on a deeper level. It all mergers together fluidly and quite naturally in it given ritualistic timing. We found in the ceremonial act a way to bridge the gap between the moment of the art-making, the presentation of the piece to the public, and the celebration of the interactions of all elements together. The artwork is able to resonate in its own energy within this time of appreciation and reflecting, it feels rather powerful.
9. Have you received any reactions, or returns from the audience contemplating your art ?
Yes of course, we received a lot of gratitude from people experiencing our artworks, beautiful kind words normally describing how the weaving technique is so elegant and soft, strong and fierce at the same time. And on many occasions have been commended for providing individuals a ‘safe space’ that they could return to to recharge.
Our proudest feedback was an encounter with our weaving art role model, Kim Godwin, telling us how we defined and reinvented the method of weaving with wattle by just weaving tightly with the sticks.
10. There is this question of burning your sculpture or not. Are your pieces usually ephemeral or do you keep some productions ? In the last case, could they be resold ?
It really depends on the specific project. Some pieces were part of bigger events and they were ephemeral by default and some pieces are meant for long term installation. Normally it is something we know and decide before starting the construction and work it into the planning. The way materials are used changes depending on the length of time the sculpture needs to be up for and if it is to be burnt to avoid any burning toxins... We have created and designed modular sculptures that can be rented or sold.
11. As artists, do you think you have a role to elevate individuals ?
Yes of course, people are very inspired by our lifestyle and our methods. Especially young womxn seem to be attracted by the physical and meditative work necessary during our buildings and the free spirited creative paths we follow. As artists in general it is part of our job to give a new point of view about something through our artworks. Art-making in this manner and art expression connect and activate critical thinking to better understand our world circumstances. We would not be doing this if we did not feel it’s ripple effect through our passions, uplifting each other, that's the validation of our art.
Visit Weaverbird's website : https://www.weaverbirdscollective.com/
Follow their Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/weaverbirds.collective/?hl=en
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