THE TREE:

Ed Pien In awe of Her power, 2006

Ink on Shoji paper Photo courtesy of the artist

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE SOCIAL

TEACHER’S STUDY GUIDE SPRING 2008

Vancouver Art Gallery Teacher’s Guide for School Programs The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social presents a vibrant selection of artworks in diverse media by local and international artists. Work in the exhibition ranges from traditional paintings of the forest that inspire awe in the power of nature, to works by contemporary artists in materials as different as video and the branches of a real tree, that explore the complex relationship between people and nature and the social, economic and environmental impact of that relationship.

DEAR TEACHER: This guide will assist you in preparing for your tour of the exhibition The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social. It also provides follow-up activities to facilitate discussion after your Gallery visit. Engaging in the suggested activities before and after your visit will reinforce ideas generated by the tour and build continuity between the Gallery experience and your ongoing work in the classroom. Most activities require few materials and can be adapted easily to the age, grade level and needs of your students. Underlined words in this guide are defined in the vocabulary section. The tour of The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social has three main goals:

• To introduce students to contemporary works in a variety of media • To understand the works in context—historical, international, local • To examine the work of individual artists and their varied response to a single subject

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THE EXHIBITION: The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social This exhibition considers the tree as a subject in art from the late nineteenth century to the present. The tree sometimes serves as a symbol for all of nature and its overwhelming, even terrifying beauty; it is a powerful symbol of Canada’s national identity and a metaphor for the individual’s struggle against the wilderness; it reminds us of our human place within and against the natural world and our current precarious ecological situation. The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social consists primarily of work in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s collection. With the addition of borrowed works by local and international artists, the exhibition considers the full scope of the tree’s significance in art. The exhibition begins with images of the forest that evoke the grandeur and power of the natural world, specifically those that highlight the awe of beauty and the fear evoked by works in the tradition of the sublime*. Representations of the forested landscape as rugged and powerful were instrumental in defining the Canadian national identity in the twentieth century, especially through the work of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, who reacted against classical European depictions of groomed pastoral landscapes to create a distinctly Canadian school of painting. More recently, artists have begun to depict the tree in ways that challenge perceptions of the world around us. A growing sense of alienation from the natural world is explored by artists who expose our limited experiences of nature. Still other artists depict trees as an over-exploited resource for economic development, expressing the devastating consequences of severe logging practices. Optimistically, several artists in the exhibition consider life-affirming projects that revitalize the “dying” tree and engage in both metaphorical and real tree-planting projects. The diverse representations of the tree in this exhibition demonstrate its enduring power as a symbol, as well as our complex and changing relationship with our natural environment. This exhibition is organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Daina Augaitis, Chief Curator/ Associate Director, with Emmy Lee, Assistant Curator. *The Canadian Oxford Dictionary definition of sublime: In art or nature—producing an overwhelming sense of awe, reverence, or high emotion, by reasons of great beauty, vastness or grandeur.

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ARTISTS’ BACKGROUND: Gabriela Albergaria (b. 1965, Vale de Cambra, Portugal) Gabriela Albergaria is an artist based in Lisbon and Berlin who uses “nature” as both subject and material in her practice. She examines human interactions with the natural world, considering the way nature has been manipulated, transported and tamed. As part of this exhibition, Albergaria was invited to create a site-specific installation for the Gallery’s rotunda. In creating her installation, she worked collaboratively with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation to identify a dead tree that was marked for felling. The oak tree was cut in pieces according to her specifications and “rebuilt” according to her own rules of composition. Blenheim and 29th, named after the location at which the tree was felled, invites the viewer to consider the transposition of this natural thing belonging outdoors into the Gallery’s interior space, reconfiguring that which was previously marked as dead. Emily Carr (b. 1871, d. 1945, Victoria, Canada) Emily Carr’s work explores the spiritual in the natural world in transcendent, monumental and reverent images of trees and forests. Her paintings, including Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky (1935) and Red Cedar (1931), express her strong identification with the British Columbia landscape and her belief that a profound expression of spirituality could be found in nature. Carr was struck by the connection between art and the “universal life force” she sensed in every aspect of the natural world she depicted. Andrew Dadson (b. 1980, White Rock, Canada) With subtle humour, Andrew Dadson points out the often subjective ways in which society defines legality and illegality and the limits of public and private spaces. In his installation The Lone Forest: Western Red Cedar: Hydroponic Grow-op (2005), he creates an artificial forest that is completely dependent on a hydroponic system. Dadson’s manufactured environment requires a specific balance of nutrients, light levels and light duration, water and pH levels. While the hydroponic system supplies the cedar saplings with all the nutrients and light they need to grow, constant monitoring by Gallery staff is necessary to their survival. In this installation, Dadson invites us to consider our relationship to the environment by presenting a futuristic vision of an artificial forest that is isolated from the multiple elements of a natural ecosystem, and one that is completely dependent on humans and technology. Jochen Gerz (b. 1940, Berlin, Germany) Jochen Gerz’s artistic strategy has long been a socially engaged one, evoking political and social issues in search of common ground between the artist and his audience. White Ghost (1998) was made in response to clear-cut logging on Cortes Island, where Gerz has resided for many years. He collaborated with friends from Cortes, some of whom are artists, writers and environmentalists who stand nude before a slash heap in this image. The right panel contains quotes from interviews with the people who are portrayed, expressing their despair about the depletion of natural resources and their guilt over their implication in this process. Their naked state creates a revealing physical and psychological portrait and acts to expose them in a way that parallels the stripping of resources on Cortes. In a specifically local gesture, Gerz titled the work White Ghost, a term used historically by Chinese people to denote a Caucasian person. Here, Gerz uses the term to suggest a haunting legacy that logging will leave for future generations.

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Rodney Graham (b. 1949, Abbotsford, Canada) Since the late 1970s, Rodney Graham has explored various conceptual approaches to making art, challenging our modes of perception with works such as Jericho Tree, Winter (2007). This large-scale photograph of an upside-down tree (part of a series of large photographs of upside-down trees that has earned the artist widespread acclaim) shows the world from the inside of a camera, where all things viewed are flipped. Graham’s work has taken many forms since the late 1970s, but the upside-down tree is a personal metaphor in his view of the modern world; it draws our attention to the processes of human and mechanical vision. These photographs form a continuum with Graham’s earlier projects dealing with nature and the city, aptly described as “nature theatre” pieces. For these, the artist constructed a large-scale, walk-in camera obscura that produced the inverted image of a tree. The works required the audience to travel between the city and the country, while considering the relationship between the two. Graham’s inverted trees are lessons in both perception and history—they present nature captured between the past and the future. Liz Magor (b. 1948, Winnipeg, Canada) Since the late 1980s, the Vancouver-based artist Liz Magor has explored questions of time, identity and our interactions with nature. Her recent works have examined matters of individual refuge and identity in modern society. Creating casts of ordinary objects, Magor challenges appearances, as the objects of everyday life have multiple and unexpected functions. Upon closer inspection, these objects may not be as they appear. Her cast-logs sculptures, including Handy Thing (2004), have multiple readings: as a shelter for humans and animals, a storage space, a retreat and a reminder of human activity such as logging and development. Magor has worked in a variety of media throughout her practice, but her ongoing concern has been the need for the individual to feel protected and safe, whether by retreating from society or through the process of accumulating everyday objects. Ed Pien (b. 1958, Taipei, Taiwan) Ed Pien mixes Asian traditions with Western art history to create his fantastic figures, intertwined in web-like patterns that resemble the branches of bare trees in winter. According to the artist, works such as in awe of Her power (2006) describe “the childhood wonder and fear of night.” Pien explains: “In darkness, details are lost and solid forms seem to give way to ephemeral, hard-to-define shapes. In this state, the senses appear to sharpen; yet physical perceptions succumb to wild imagination.” This large-scale paper work uses a silhouetted landscape of dense tree forms to explore the artist’s interest in surreal imagery. Reflecting the influences of Bosch and Goya, Pien’s contemporary perspective on fantastical narratives can be seen as both magical and disturbing.

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Kevin Schmidt (b. 1972, Ottawa, Canada) Kevin Schmidt investigates the sublime and spectacular in nature, often taking cues from the pictorial tradition of landscape painting. He is also interested in the dichotomy between the real and the artificial, particularly with respect to the experience of the natural world. The projected images of the West Coast forest he presents in Fog appear at once perfect and strangely artificial, with crisp illumination and rising fog reminiscent of horror films. This combination of beautiful and terrifying resonates with the Romantic tradition of the sublime in the depiction of landscape. Schmidt describes Fog as “a kind of phantasm of public space, a site for subjective and alternative imaginings.” Gordon Smith (b. 1919, Hove, Sussex, England) The paintings of Gordon Smith, who lives in Vancouver, are noted for their strong sense of atmosphere, colour and light; the artist expertly balances pure abstraction with the depiction of the British Columbia forest. For him, painting is more than a conventional depiction of the landscape: his expressive landscapes invite the viewer to make an emotional connection with the skies, rocks and trees depicted; yet for Smith the focus is the process of painting itself and how paint is applied to the canvas. Byway Trees A VI (2000–2001) is part of a series based on the landscape surrounding Smith’s house. A stylized treatment of west coast trees, it recalls the grid patterns seen in his work of the 1950s. Ian Wallace (b. 1943, Shoreham, England) Ian Wallace has been influential in the development of photo-conceptualism in Vancouver, and is best known for his photographs laminated on canvases. Clayoquot Protest (August 9, 1993) juxtaposes photographs and monochrome. Each of the nine panels depicts protestors at Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island—the site of a series of protests against the clear-cut logging of old-growth forests in the summer of 1993. Wallace’s technique combines documentary photography with paintings made from a single colour, an approach that asks us to think about a particular historical event as well as the way in which all historical events are represented. Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (b. 1957, Kamloops, Canada) A highly political artist, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun says that his purpose is “to make people think.” In his work, he draws on his First Nations heritage as well as his experiences as a contemporary artist living in an urban environment. His work typically addresses social, political and environmental issues. Deploying Northwest Coast First Nations design elements and the Western landscape tradition, Yuxweluptun confronts issues such as the devastation of nature by the forest industry, Aboriginal rights and the treaty process. Clear Cut to the Last Tree directly refers to environmental crisis, seemingly irreversible devastation and the dismantling of an ecosystem, turning what was once a lush green environment into a virtual desert. In many of his paintings, elements in the landscape, particularly trees and mountains, are built from forms derived from Northwest Coast art. By embedding formal Northwest Coast design elements in the landscape, Yuxweluptun literally marks the land as First Nations.

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PREPARING YOUR STUDENTS: Nudes in Art Students should be prepared to see a number of images of the nude body in this exhibition, in Jochen Gerz’s photographs. It may be helpful to talk with students beforehand about images of the nude human body in art, and encourage them to examine their own responses to the work and to think about why an artist might choose to include a nude body in a work of art. Hilarious A good place to begin is in simply informing students that some of the works of art they will see when they visit the gallery will contain images of nude bodies. When people come to the gallery they have all kinds of different responses to artworks showing nudes. Some people laugh, others feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. All of these responses are normal. But why? Why is the body so humorous and/or embarrassing? Ask the students whether they fall into hysterical laughter when they are in the shower or bath. Probably not. Part of the shock of seeing a nude figure in a museum is just that: we are accustomed to our nude bodies only in private. To see one in a public is a shock. Artists know this too. In showing the nude body, they remind us that the human body can mean many things. Nudity can be a symbol of:

Privacy: The artist observes a very private moment when the person in the artwork is alone or with someone he or she loves. Innocence: Christian religious images over the last 500 years often include images of angels figured as nude babies and the Christ child is often depicted nude. Like all babies, these figures are innocent, unaware of their nudity. Bravery: When Michelangelo sculpted the famous statue of David, he spoke of David’s nudity as a symbol of bravery. David faced a giant without any protection on his body, relying on his faith and his skill to protect him. Vulnerability: Nudity can be a symbol of lack of defence—a person who has nothing and has nowhere to hide.

What are you wearing? Another way to approach this topic is to think about clothing instead of nudity. What do clothes tell us about a person? Clothing can sends messages about:

• the time in history • age and culture • wealth and style • the wearer’s profession • stereotypes and expectations

Some artists and art historians suggest that the nude figure is set free from all of this “distracting” information that is provided by what we wear, and becomes just a human being, from any time, place or background.

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PRE-VISIT ACTIVITY: Looking at Trees (Primary and Intermediate students) Objective: Students look at trees in their communities and environments, think about their significance and create a visual and poetic representation of a tree. Materials:

Large poster board Writing and drawing materials Scissors, glue, string Bags (plastic, paper or cloth)

Process:

1. As a class or in small groups, have students consider all or some of the following questions. The responses can be written on the board as a web chart in the shape of a tree. What is a tree? What are trees (or their parts) used for? What purposes do trees serve? What are some different kinds of trees? Where do you usually (or sometimes) see trees? Do trees play any part in your family history or family stories? What can you see around you that comes from a tree or is made from a part of a

tree? 2. Take students outside and give each a sheet of paper with a crayon and a bag. 3. Walk around the area and talk about the trees in and around the school grounds.

Discuss types of trees, the purposes they serve, students’ connections to them and personal stories about particular trees. Have the students collect different types of leaves, pine needles, seeds, berries, twigs, etc., from the trees they encounter.

4. Do a bark rubbing. Rub smoother bark with the side of a crayon for best results. 5. Back in the classroom, have each student do a piece of creative writing, using the

previous discussions and observations as inspiration. This writing can be a descriptive paragraph, a family story, some free-form verse or a haiku.

6. As a class, brainstorm sensory responses to trees (and their parts): sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch.

7. If you choose to work with haiku, the following will be helpful for the class: Use plain language and images involving the senses. Avoid abstract or conceptual words, similes, metaphors, rhymes and

language that is too “poetic.” Some haiku poets writing in English follow the 5-7-5 pattern (three lines of

five, seven and five syllables), but most poets view the haiku as a poem in three lines containing 17 or fewer syllables.

A helpful reference for more information and examples: http://www.vancouvercherryblossomfestival.com/2008/ (click About Haiku)

8. Draw a large tree trunk on the poster board. Have each student add a branch made from their bark rubbing, collected leaves, etc., and hang their writing on their branch.

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Conclusion: Display and discuss the image, the poems and the writing process. Has the way students are thinking about trees changed? How?

Follow-up: The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs from March 25 to April 20, 2008, offers a variety of wonderful activities and events. Check out the details at http://www.vancouvercherryblossomfestival.com/2008/.

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PRE-VISIT ACTIVITY: Ways of Seeing (Intermediate and Secondary students) Objective: Students learn about different artistic approaches to trees by a range of artists whose works appear in this exhibition. Discussion: The work in the exhibition has been interspersed with writings and quotes about trees by a diverse group of people, including poets, politicians, singers and songwriters. The purpose of the mix is to prompt different ways of thinking about the artworks, to encourage new understandings. The work is presented in a variety of contexts, from “the sublime to the social.” The activities on this page are designed to inspire students to grapple with some of the complexities opened up by this multi-faceted way of looking at the artwork. Materials:

Information Sheet: Ways of Seeing (following pages) Internet Writing materials Black markers (preferably sharpies or fineliners) and thick white paper

Process:

1. Have the students work in small groups. Give them the information about one or two of the artists on the next pages. Have them read and discuss the ways the various artists have approached trees in their work.

2. Have the students look up images (and additional information) on the Internet. Some links are provided for direct access to artworks.

3. Have each group share what they have learned about their artist(s) with the class. Do students think their artist’s work would fit better into a different category?

4. Ask students to discuss which images they would classify as “sublime.” [The Canadian Oxford Dictionary definition of sublime: in art or nature—producing an overwhelming sense of awe, reverence, or high emotion, by reasons of great beauty, vastness or grandeur.]

5. Give each student a large sheet of white paper. Have them fold it into two vertical sections, then open up the paper and choose two of the following to label the sections:

Political/Environmental Tree Social Tree Symbolic Tree Sublime Tree

(Older students might like to do all four.) 6. Have students use a black marker to draw—cartoon style—two tree images: above

and below ground, roots and branches, each representing a different concept of the tree. Students may think of a specific artwork they learned about in each case, or they may think in more general terms of the category of artwork. Have them add words to the roots and branches in this way: Roots: Words that contain the ideas that the work makes us think about; e.g., logging, bad neighbours, perception, homelessness, transcendence, spookiness, loneliness, inequality…

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Branches: Words that describe the look of the type of artwork; e.g., torn photographs, watercolour paint, contrasting colours, transparent paper, clay blobs, floating shapes… [David Byrne of Talking Heads fame has published a book titled Arboretum, filled with drawings of trees, and he has labelled the roots and branches with words in specific contexts. You may want to check out the website and make some copies as prototypes: http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/tree_drawings Click on the thumbnail Arboretum (image of book cover) and then Next Image for examples.]

Conclusion: Display the students’ work and have them discuss their representations.

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Information Sheet: Ways of Seeing Political/economic/environmental issues: Ian Wallace

Born in England in 1943, lives in Vancouver Photo-conceptual artist Combines documentary photographs and single-colour acrylic painting on canvas Clayoquot Protest (August 9, 1993) consists of a series of nine panels showing

people protesting against clear-cut logging of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island http://www.ccca.ca/artists (click Ian Wallace, image timeline view, 1993–95

artworks) Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun

Born in Kamloops, British Columbia, in 1957 Political artist, combines Northwest Coast First Nations design elements and the

Western landscape tradition Makes large-scale images, screenprint on paper and acrylic on canvas In Clear Cut to the Last Tree (1993) and MacMillan Bloedel Eco-system Destroyers

and Their Preferred Weapons (1994), he refers to the environmental crisis, devastation of the landscape and destruction of First Nations land

http://www.lawrencepaulyuxweluptun.com/blog (click Retrospective, scroll down to above-mentioned thumbnail images)

Gabriella Albergaria

Born in Portugal in 1965, lives in Lisbon and Berlin Creates huge site-specific installations out of, and about, natural materials Uses whole cut-down trees and reassembles them For her piece Blenheim and 29th (2008), collaborated with the Vancouver Board of

Parks and Recreation, who identified a dead tree marked for felling that was suitable for her installation

www.gabrielaalbergaria.com Symbolic representation: Ed Pien

Born in Taiwan, 1958, lives in Toronto Creates large fantastical images, mixes Asian traditions with Western art history,

creating web-like patterns Cut-outs on Shoji paper Works such as in awe of Her power (2006) describe “the childhood wonder and fear

of night.” Pien explains: “In darkness, details are lost and solid forms seem to give way to ephemeral, hard-to-define shapes”

http://www.edpien.com/drawings/12

Emily Carr Lived in Victoria, British Columbia, from 1871 to 1945 Painted trees and forest landscapes, attempting to express the spirituality and life

force of the natural world Painted mainly in oil on canvas Works such as Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky (1935) and Red Cedar (1931)

express her strong identification with the British Columbia landscape

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Social context: the urban environment: Vikky Alexander

Born in 1959 in Victoria, British Columbia Creates large murals, interested in connections between art, architecture and nature Combines photography, sculpture, installation and collage In her photo mural Lake in the Woods (1992), she comments on our separation from

nature in urban consumer society Liz Magor

Born in 1948 in Winnipeg, Canada, lives in Vancouver Creates sculptural installations of ordinary objects that are not always what they

appear to be Casts in bronze or makes moulds for silicone rubber sculptures from real-world

objects Handy Thing (2004) can be seen in many ways—as a shelter for humans and

animals, a storage space, a retreat or a reminder of human activity, such as logging and development

http://www.equinoxgallery.com (click Artists, then Liz Magor)

Andrew Dadson Born in 1980 in White Rock, British Columbia Creates artworks that often challenge the ways we define legality and illegality and

the limits of public and private spaces Uses photography, video, installations and performance art In The Lone Forest: Western Red Cedar: Hydroponic Grow-op (2005), creates a

futuristic vision of an artificial forest. The hydroponic system supplies the cedar saplings with all the nutrients and light they need, but the trees require constant monitoring by Gallery staff

Formal analysis: Rodney Graham

Born in 1949 in Abbotsford, British Columbia Photo-conceptual artist, famous for his upside-down trees Large black-and-white photographs With works such as his inverted tree in Jericho Tree, Winter (2007), challenges our

perception and does not allow us to merely glorify or romanticize nature www.artists4kids.com/artists/graham

Gordon Smith

Born in 1919 in England, lives in Vancouver Paintings noted for their strong sense of atmosphere, colour and light: “I am one

hundred artists deep,” Smith has said Oil or acrylic paint on canvas; special attention to the surface of the painting Byway Trees A VI (2000–2001) incorporates abstraction into the rugged landscape

of BC http://www.equinoxgallery.com (click Artists, then Gordon Smith)

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Kevin Schmidt Born in Ottawa in 1972 Investigates nature at its most spectacular, using new technology to follow in the

tradition of landscape painting, but with a twist Uses large-format slides projected into a darkened room The dual-sided projected image of the West Coast forest he presents in Fog (2004)

appears at once perfect and strangely artificial, with crisp illumination and rising fog reminiscent of horror films

www.presentationhousegall.com (click Exhibitions, then past, 2004)

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PRE-VISIT ACTIVITY: Text and Image

(All levels) Objective: Students work with some of the Tree Quotes—from a diverse group of people, including poets, politicians, singers and songwriters—that accompany the artwork in the exhibition. Materials:

Tree Quotes sheet (next two pages) Writing materials Art materials

Process:

1. Choose quotes that are appropriate to the level of students in the class. Divide students into groups of two or three, and give each group one of the quotes. Have them discuss the quote, and make sure they understand it. (Primary students can be given a line or two of some of the longer or more complex quotes.)

2. Have each group share their quote with the class and explain it. Discuss any controversies or differences of opinion.

3. Back in their small groups, have the students visualize and discuss an artwork that will capture or convey the ideas they have discussed in relation to the quote. Think about space: Would it be 2D or 3D? Think about media: What kind of materials would the artwork be made of? Clay?

Paint on board? Photograph on canvas? Video? Things found in nature? Fabric? Steel?

Think about size: How big or small would it be? Could you walk around or inside it?

Think about language: Would it include any words or text? Think about ideas: How would it convey the ideas the students discussed? Think about impact: How do the students think viewers will respond to the

work? Do they want to encourage emotion—perhaps to make people feel calm or upset or confused or angry?

4. Have each group make a sketch of their planned artwork, with descriptions. 5. Have each group present and explain their quote and planned artwork to the class. 6. Display the quotes and accompanying sketches in the classroom.

Follow-up:

When visiting the exhibition, have students look out for “their” quote, and note the artworks accompanying that piece of writing.

Back in the classroom, have students compare their expectations of the type of artwork and their sketch of their planned artwork with the actual work that accompanied the text.

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Tree Quotes

The Land (excerpt)

Rooted strong on a hillside or as a gnarled shadow on windswept fields the wild fig tree’s dry leaves whistle November: but on the sheltered side fat leaves, bursting declare April

And when the fruit forms clusters and shoots dark red fingers at the lusty sun is it summer or winter?

Happy the self-completing tree that brews, in secret, its own seasons . . . —Dorothy Livesay, Canadian poet

Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money. —Cree proverb The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been represented by a great tree... As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever branching and beautiful ramifications. —Charles Darwin, British scientist A tree has risen. O pure transcendence! O Orpheus Sings! Oh high tree of the ear! And all was still. Yet in the stillness new beginning, summoning, and change sprang forth —Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet We ought to think that we are one of the leaves of a tree, and the tree is all humanity. We cannot live without the others, without the tree.

—Pablo Casals, Spanish cellist and conductor A grove of giant redwoods or sequoias should be kept just as we keep a great or beautiful cathedral. —Theodore Roosevelt, American president

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OH, the cedar tree! (excerpt) Huge, some of these cedars, five hundred years of slow growth, towering from their massive bases. The wood is soft, but of a wonderful firmness and, in a good tree, so straight-grained it will split true and clean onto forty-foot planks, four inches thick and three feet wide, with scarcely a knot. Across the grain it cuts clean and precise. It is light in weight and beautiful in color, reddish brown when new, silvery grey when old. It is permeated with natural oils that make it one of the longest lasting of all woods, even in the damp of the Northwest Coast climate. When steamed it will bend without breaking. —Bill Reid, Haida sculptor and artist A fool sees not the same tree a wise man sees. —William Black, Scottish novelist They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum; And they charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot …

—Joni Mitchell, Canadian singer and songwriter Fancy cutting down all these beautiful trees… to make pulp for those bloody newspapers, and calling it civilization. —Winston Churchill, British statesman Before I had reached it the axeman had already divested it of its branches. Its gracefully spreading top was a perfect wreck on the hillside as if it had been made of glass and the tender cones of one year’s growth upon its summit appealed in vain and too late to the mercy of the chopper. Already he has measured it with his axe, and marked off the millions it will make. And the space it occupied in the upper air is vacant for the next two centuries. It is lumber. He has laid waste the air. —Henry David Thoreau, American author

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PRE-VISIT ACTIVITY: Tree Politics (Intermediate and Secondary students) Objective: Students investigate the politics of trees, environmental issues, the logging industry, and facts, figures and statistics. Discussion: Trees are at the core of environmental clashes that seem to be reported in the media every day. These concerns appear in artworks in different ways. Many of the artists represented in the exhibition are deeply political, and some are social activists working at a grassroots level with art and the community. Materials:

Assorted newspapers, magazines, flyers, brochures Internet, television Writing materials Research—the following websites may be helpful:

www.treesaregood.com/funfacts www.davidsuzuki.org/ www.focs.ca/ www.wcwcvictoria.org/www.viforest.org www.wildernesscommittee.org/

Process: 1. Students spend a week doing a tree-related media check. Have them look in

newspapers and magazines, and follow the news on TV, radio and/or Internet, and identify any coverage that concerns trees or the environment. How are trees presented in the various media? In commercials, in advertising, in their favourite TV programs? Have students look on some websites (suggestions above) for interesting facts on trees and human impact on the environment.

2. Have students note or collect any information and images of trees they come across. At the end of the allotted time, have them discuss the material they found. How were trees presented in the media? In an urban, rural or forest environment? Controversial? Art? Environmental? Disasters? Commercials? What purposes were the images used for? How? Why?

3. What major concerns about trees are currently reflected in the media? 4. What do students think are major concerns for them and their future? 5. Have students work in small groups and do Internet research on old-growth forests,

logging, forestry and conservation in British Columbia. Have them look up key phrases such as Clayoquot Sound, Carmanah Valley, Meares Island, old growth + logging, Pine Beetle Infestation. Ask them to choose a problematic area and identify and describe the problem. What are some of the solutions suggested in their research? What do they think are some solutions? What kind of action do they think they can take?

6. Discuss these issues as a class.

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Follow-up: Have the students decide on some action they as a class can take to work toward a

solution: writing a letter to a newspaper, circulating a petition, making an art piece to raise public awareness, putting up posters, collecting money...

Do it! When visiting the Gallery, ask students to note any artist’s work that demonstrates

the act of implementing change through artwork.

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VOCABULARY abstract: a style of art that can be practised in two ways: the artist begins with a recognizable subject and alters, distorts, manipulates or

simplifies elements of it, or the artist creates abstract forms that are unrecognizable and have no direct reference to

external reality (sometimes referred to as pure abstraction or non-representational art). camera obscura: essentially a box with a very small hole punched in it. Light passes through the tiny opening, and all rays from a scene are concentrated through a single point, as in the lens of a camera. An inverted image is thereby reflected onto the surface opposite the hole. Early cameras (sometimes called pinhole cameras) were developed on the principles of this device, with the simple inclusion of light-sensitive paper to capture the upside-down image. conceptual art: art in which the ideas behind the creation of the work are seen as more significant than the end product. During the 1960s and ’70s, conceptual artists rejected the idea of the unique, precious art object and focused on the importance of ideas to artistic practice. contemporary: created in the last thirty years. Most contemporary artists are living artists. installation: art that is created from a wide range of materials and installed in a specific environment. An installation may be temporary or permanent. The term came into wide use in the 1970s, and many installation works were conceptual. landscape: artwork in which the subject is a view of the exterior physical world. Traditionally, landscapes have been paintings or drawings depicting natural scenes and are often concerned with light, space and setting. modern: a historical period of art practice—from 1850 to 1970—during which approaches to art embraced new ideas in science, political thought and many other areas. The modernists rejected the restrictions of past art traditions and stressed innovation over all other criteria. performance art: works in any of a variety of media that are performed before a live audience. The performance itself, rather than a specific object, constitutes the artwork. Documentation is often an important part of the performance. photo-conceptualism: an artistic movement that emerged in Vancouver in the1960s and ’70s. The work is characterized by large-format photographic prints. This movement explored the ideas behind the photograph, appropriate subject matter, the assumed “truth” of photography, and the nature of photography as fine art versus commercial art.

site-specific: artwork planned and created for a particular space or location.

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RESOURCES Print: Byrne, David. Arboretum. San Francisco: McSweeney’s Books, 2006. Carr, Emily; introduction by Robin Laurence. Beloved Land: The World of Emily Carr.

Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1996. Fondation Beyeler, ed. The Magic of Trees. Germany: Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1998. Hill, Charles C., Johanne Lamoureux, Ian M. Thom, et al. Emily Carr: New Perspectives on a

Canadian Icon. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, National Gallery of Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2006.

Millard, Laura, and Paddy O’Brien (guest essayists). The Single Tree. London ON: LRAHM, 2000.

Murray, Joan. Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1999. Silcox, David. The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2003. Thom, Ian. Art BC: Masterworks from British Columbia. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre,

2000. Online: www.artandculture.com/index.htmlAn excellent online magazine and resource site on contemporary art and culture. www.artcyclopedia.comOnline art encyclopedia listing international artists, and museums and galleries with collections of their work. Includes information on trends in art history and a large selection of reproductions of artworks. www.wikipedia.comOnline dictionary and encyclopedia, created collaboratively by laypeople, with good background and biographical information on artists. www.ccca.caCentre for Contemporary Canadian Art: The Canadian Art Database. Video: Force Four Productions. A Woman of All Sorts. CBC Television, 1997. BCTF Teaching Aids: Clark, Karin. Long Ago in Victoria (K–2). BCTF Teaching Aid 3107, 1996. Gage, Susan. TRFic! A Temperate Rainforest Teacher’s Guidebook (intermediate), BCTF

Teaching Aid 9533, 1998.

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