Heap of Birds
Summary
TLDRThe artist Edgar Heap of Birds discusses his sculpture '12 Trees', which represents a calendar and medicine wheel, symbolizing support for Native American endeavors. He explores themes of history, culture, and identity through his art, using natural forms like trees and incorporating text as a design element. The piece aims to educate and provoke thought about Native American history and contemporary issues, encouraging community engagement.
Takeaways
- 🎨 The artist's proposal for the Denver Art Museum involves creating 10 tree sculptures to represent the months of the year, inspired by the medicine wheel.
- 🌲 The trees in the artwork symbolize the importance of nature and the artist's connection to the land, with juniper trees from Oklahoma being particularly significant.
- 🔄 The concept of the tree with a fork represents strength and support, which the artist sees as a metaphor for supporting the endeavors of Native people.
- 📜 The artwork incorporates extensive research and history, aiming to educate viewers about the history of Native Americans, especially in Colorado.
- 🏞️ The location of the artwork in Denver, at the foothills of the mountains, holds cultural significance for Native Americans.
- 👥 The sculpture is intended to be interactive and communal, providing a space for people to gather and reflect.
- 📝 The use of text in the artwork serves as a design element, with the physical shape, sound, and rhythm of words being as important as their meaning.
- 🖋️ The artist's process involves distilling complex emotions and ideas into simple, powerful language, often using three or four words.
- 🌐 The artwork addresses broader humanitarian issues and is not limited to one culture or place, reflecting the artist's international perspective.
- 🔁 The sculpture is designed to be open-ended, suggesting a continuity of history and culture, and a space for future interactions.
Q & A
What was the original proposal for the Denver Art Museum?
-The original proposal was to have 12 trees standing up, representing a calendar form of a medicine wheel.
Why did the artist decide to change the number of trees from 12 to 10?
-The artist decided to make the circle have only 10 trees to represent the months of the year, rather than 12, to create a modern sculpture that is not an actual religious icon.
What is the significance of the juniper trees and prairie in the artist's work?
-The juniper trees and prairie of Oklahoma have been a part of the artist's life and have become an archetypal form in his paintings, symbolizing a connection to the land and his experiences.
How does the artist relate the sharpness of the stones to art as a weapon for Native American rights?
-The artist was struck by how sharp the stones were even after being cut a thousand years ago, and he found that actual art would be the weapon to use today to fight for Native American rights.
What does the artist mean when he says the trees with fork poles will exist as a support for all the endeavors of Native people?
-The artist sees the forked trees as a metaphor for strength and support, suggesting that the sculpture will stand as a symbol of support for the ongoing efforts and struggles of Native people.
How does the artist view the life cycle of trees and how does it relate to human life?
-The artist sees the life cycle of trees, particularly the changes in fall, as a representation of the human life cycle, moving from one physical state to another and affecting the emotional and psychological state of individuals.
What materials and techniques were used to create the standing trees for the sculpture?
-The trees are 12 feet tall, made of wood, covered with rag paper, and have diagramming on the outside. The artist worked on them over a period of two to three years.
What historical events and impacts are addressed in the artwork?
-The artwork addresses the history of Native Americans in Colorado, including the Sand Creek and Ouachita massacres, the imprisonment of Cheyenne leaders, and the impact of these events on the artist's family.
How does the artist use language and text in his artwork?
-The artist uses text as a design element, considering the physical shape, sound, and rhythm of words. He believes that text can be a structure in the mind, a memory, and an expression, similar to other artistic elements like color and shape.
What is the role of public art according to the artist?
-The artist believes public art has a responsibility to address the public and be inclusive, engaging viewers and prompting them to reflect on the message and history presented.
How does the artist describe the experience of people interacting with the sculpture?
-The artist describes the sculpture as creating a safe, healing space that cradles people, encouraging interaction and conversation, and providing a sense of affirmation.
Outlines
🌳 Art as a Natural Expression
The artist discusses a proposal accepted by the Denver Art Museum for an installation called '12 Trees,' which represents a calendar form of a medicine wheel. The artist visited the medicine wheel in Wyoming for inspiration and decided to create a circle with only 10 trees to represent the months of the year. The trees in the artist's paintings, like the juniper trees and the prairies of Oklahoma, have become an archetypal form in his work. The artist connects his work to his personal experiences as a hunter and gardener, and the historical significance of the land. He sees art as a powerful tool for political expression and a means to support Native American rights, drawing a parallel between the sharp stones used by ancient hunters and the sharpness of art as a weapon today.
🏺 Historical Representation in Art
The artist describes the process of creating 12-foot-tall standing trees made of wood and covered with rag paper for an art installation. Each tree is covered with editorial diagrams that took two to three years to establish. The intention of the piece is to represent Native Americans in Colorado and America, and to present history in a more open and factual way. The artist discusses the impact of historical events such as the Sand Creek and Ouachita massacres on his family and the Cheyenne Nation. The artwork incorporates themes of history, culture, and personal experiences, including the use of images from Fort Marion and the magpie, which has personal and cultural significance. The artist aims to create a piece that is both a modern art piece and a captivating formal element, encouraging viewers to engage with the extensive research and history presented.
🎨 The Creative Process and Cultural Reflection
The artist talks about the creative process behind the '12 Trees' installation, emphasizing the importance of finding a rhythm in the forms to express himself. He discusses the diverse nature of his artistic approach, which includes painting, drawing, printmaking, writing, and teaching. The artist sees text as another design element, valuing the physical shape and sound of words. He describes how he uses language in his artwork, often distilling complex emotions into a few words. The artist reflects on his life experiences and how they inform his art, suggesting that an artist's work is a reflection of their life and experiences.
📜 Language and Art in Cultural Expression
The artist explores the use of language in art, particularly in the context of his '12 Trees' installation. He discusses the inversion of letters as a way to make viewers think about the sound of words and how it can encode meaning. The artist reflects on the economy of language and its rhythm, drawing parallels to concrete poetry and Haiku. He also talks about the physical manifestation of words in his art, treating them as sculptural elements. The artist sees public art as having a responsibility to address the public and to be inclusive of many peoples' stories, not just his own.
🌐 Broadening the Scope of Native American Art
The artist discusses the evolution of the '12 Trees' project, from standing tablets to a more natural representation of trees, inspired by a visit to a medicine wheel in Wyoming. He explains the decision to represent the months of the year with 10 trees instead of 12. The artist sees the installation as a significant piece that belongs in Denver due to its cultural and geographical significance. He also talks about his work as addressing broader humanitarian issues and having a universal message beyond Native American culture. The artist reflects on the installation as a component that supports and engages with the community, offering a space for interaction and reflection.
🌟 The Impact of Art and Cultural Relevance
The artist concludes by emphasizing the importance of art in reflecting on life and how it can be made from both positive and negative experiences. He sees the '12 Trees' installation as a space that cradles and affirms people, offering a sense of healing and safety. The artist is thankful for the opportunity to create art that can engage with and support the community. He also discusses his role in opening up debates on contemporary cultural affairs, suggesting that art can play a crucial role in cultural reflection and understanding.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Medicine Wheel
💡Native American Rights
💡Prairie
💡Art as a Weapon
💡Life Cycle
💡Fork in the Tree
💡Fort Marion
💡Public Art
💡Cheyenne Nation
💡Contemporary Cultural Affairs
💡Solstice
Highlights
Proposal accepted by Denver Art Museum for a sculpture representing a calendar form medicine wheel.
Artist visited the medicine wheel in Wyoming for inspiration.
Decision to have 10 trees instead of 12 to represent the months of the year.
Trees in the artist's paintings symbolize the prairies of Oklahoma.
Artist's personal connection to the land and hunting as a child influencing his work.
Revelation that art can be a powerful tool for political expression.
Concept of the wheel as a support for Native American endeavors.
Trees representing life cycles and emotional states.
Description of the physical creation process of the sculpture.
Intention to represent Native people in Colorado and America.
Historical context of Native American struggles and massacres.
Artist's family history and its influence on the artwork.
Use of language and text as a design element in the artwork.
Public art's responsibility to address the public and community.
The sculpture's potential as a site for community engagement and interaction.
Artist's approach to creating a rhythm in the forms of the trees.
The significance of the medicine wheel and its cultural importance.
The sculpture as a modern art piece with a captivating formal element.
The artist's diverse approach to art, including painting, drawing, and writing.
The importance of reflecting on one's life to create art.
The sculpture's potential to be a healing and affirming space for visitors.
Transcripts
thank you our proposal was accepted by
the Denver Art Museum to have 12 Trees
standing up that might kind of represent
kind of a calendar form medicine wheel
and went up and visited the medicine
wheel in Wyoming a couple of times
but I've decided to make my circle have
only 10 trees rather than 12 that
represent the month of the year so we're
not really
creating a an actual religious uh
icon you know we're making art we're
making a modern sculpture
and then this the trees are in my
paintings you know the trees the juniper
trees and the Prairie of Oklahoma have
been in my pain and continue to be part
of that language I I look at
the Prairie uh the small trees we do
have are remarkable because the Prairie
is treeless really you know so when you
find the the small Forest you're always
thankful
those kind of shapes
became an archetypal form for me and I
and it crept into my work although it
was subliminal I didn't know that I was
doing that
I was here
um
as a little boy
on this land and discovered
how to live I became a hunter
had a big Garden I'd give potatoes away
to everybody
you know so we learned how to live that
way
it's in my paintings certainly you know
came from this land and like there's a
rock right here you know there's there's
some Cut Rock
right in this area from hunters from
over a thousand years ago would hike up
the same Canyon and they would stop and
rest and they would make flint uh while
they were here waiting and um
and I had a real uh Revelation in the
sense
in this spot because I was considering
how to fight for
Native American rights and how to make
art in a political vein and what would
be the weapon
of choice today and I was struck by how
sharp these stones still are even if
they were cut a thousand years ago
and left here and and I found that
actual art would be the weapon to use
today
you know to fight for native people
so it gave me a whole perspective on
political art
from sitting right here and hunting and
have my gun in my hand but knowing that
a gun can't really safely
Propel me but I can make art in a very
proactive way
and and be as sharp as these stones that
are here so
I really feel strongly about presenting
this natural tree form that grows with a
fork in it in a natural way and you know
that if you cut the tree in a fork form
you have a very strong place to support
anything that you want to support So
conceptually for me uh the wheel being
10 standing trees with fork poles will
exist as a support for all the Endeavors
of native people
I I think that when Edgar approaches the
idea of tree and the forks that happen
in trees
I for me what I see in my own personal
experience of trees is that they they
represent
not only in existence over time
but they also represent an existence of
one's life cycle in the fall as the
leaves begin to change color and
and the tree returns to its singular
shape and form
that in a real sense represents a life
cycle it really does move from one
physical state to another
which affects the emotional and
psychological state of the individual
and
again in a sense I really reborn so
that's how I see the tree
foreign
scale standing trees they're 12 feet
tall and they're made of wood and
they're covered with rag paper and then
I do the diagramming of all the the
editorial on the outside you know and
I've I've established these uh over like
a two three year periods so
um but it's been really really effective
for me to have that in the studio to
look at them and to move them around and
turn them and have them relate to each
other as they will in a circle
the intention of the piece was to uh I
guess firstly represent native people in
Colorado represent
native people I guess in America it
could be another idea and to look at
history in a more
open way more
factual way maybe even with an editorial
from me as a shining rapid person but to
try to uh expand the knowledge base that
we all have about the history of native
people particularly in Colorado which is
a very explosive kind of inflammatory
location in the world for native people
afraid
and storage of 1833
tribes are still recovering from the
massacres and from losing their land
they're hunting their leadership
the massacre at sign Creek and later the
massacre at Ouachita
in Oklahoma and territory led to the
Sean rappo
tribal leader particularly Cheyenne
leaders being taken as hostages and put
in prison in Florida
and my family was very heavily impacted
by Fort Mary and my My Father Charles
heap of birds his father got heap of
birds his father black wolf heap of
birds then his father
mini magpies Chief many magpies he was
in prison and for a Marion and actually
my name hockey Avi Little Chief the
first man that had that name was also in
Fort Marion he was in prison after the
Washington Massacre so all that kind of
comes down to me and so in a sense I
feel like I have this ownership on one
level of some of the artwork that was
done in prison by my relatives
so I've been using those images from
Fort Marion kind of from my family and
then the magpie is actually from a
drawing that was done in prison too and
my name heap of birds which translated
versus mini magpies and that goes into
the final tree that has all the magpies
flying
and I bring it back out it's because
they were the best people to observe
that transition and that kind of
crushing pressure of the colonial power
in America on the Cheyenne Nation
so it has kind of two major roles in
that it's a modern art piece but it's
it'll have a pretty captivating formal
element being 10 standing 12 foot trees
in a circle and you'll see that from far
away but I think the next element with
the piece is the extensive research and
history that's evident being presented
in the piece so you can actually sit and
read the sculpture in a program for
hours and and try to understand the
history
is reminding us of our histories what
how we came to be
where we are now but at the same time
he's also saying we don't want to repeat
history
when you repeat history
you're in the same place you no longer
have grown and what he's saying is that
this that this particular contemporary
Society has grown to the point where we
need to begin to actively be
uh involved with each other because
our survival is really dependent upon
that as as human beings
we also wanted a piece that was very
intellectually appropriate for the site
here in Denver in Colorado we knew that
he looked at American policy and
American history vis-a-vis Indian people
from a very totally different
perspective than what most people had
viewed in the past
well I think the work is really from my
standpoint is effective because
it may appear to be confrontational from
the very beginning but on the other hand
you know when we begin to look into the
the levels of the work we I think will
arrive at a greater understanding of
what the artist was talking about the
artist is really talking about in in the
real sense the building of a particular
kind of community
our job as a viewer is to go and say
what is the artist talking about what is
he saying it's incumbent upon the viewer
to become involved and say is there
something in here that is that I can
learn
from or about
the truth this company is very complex
in in many good ways that every tree has
a theme you know so there was a broad uh
thematic sketch for in 10 pieces but
every time I got to a tree I built and I
built the trees separately each one was
a was a separate kind of activity and I
would draw on the outside of the model
and so on
and I guess what the artist is always
trying to do is to find
like the value or the the constant or
the the methodology in a form or a
process and and it takes a while to do
that and that's why the trees and for
the Denver Art Museum
have been sitting in the studio for four
years and I'm trying to find
that rhythm of those forms so I can
actually
express myself through those things
um but there was enough time with like
the five or six years that I could
interject new ideas I had you know about
culture and history in the the next tree
and it wasn't in a in a in a
chronological order I just jumped around
with the themes I felt strongest about I
finished one tree and move on to the
next one uh so I was able to interject a
lot of new ideas too but I'm as an
artist I'm very uh diverse in my
Approach you know I'm making paintings
that are abstract and kind of
celebratory I'm making diuristic
drawings about love or making mono
monotypes about relationships prints uh
you know I'm doing I'm writing essays
I'm teaching I don't know you probably
had it going on in his mind
um these are all
phrases that I've been working on and
just kind of part of the Diary kind of
thing so these are all
um
kind of descriptions of
events or people or
uh I guess incidences
lately
and then I come I come in the studio and
write them down and pin them up and
and I kind of think about reflect on
on what this was what these things were
and
I think your life has to be
um
available to you or you need to have
some kind of existence that you can
reflect upon to make art
and if you can't reflect on your life
you can't make any art you know so so
what is this place here this is the
north family allotment whether it's good
or bad you know if you have things you
can that are remarkable
you can make art out of that
and so they're all rappahoe people
um from 1860 or so
and my mother's Arapahoe so
it's her her family
her mother was Nora North
so they're all buried here all the North
that you have a you know your own
thoughts your own experiences you log
them in you might have a notebook or
scratches of paper and napkin
and you write some couple of words down
and then kind of hold them with you and
then I come in and I would put them on
the wall so I really I really appreciate
that the structure of the drawings and
how language can become a structure
a structure in your mind a memory
um an expression but also a picture
for me text is another element like a
design element
um and just in the physical shape of it
too you know it's almost like when a
poet uses words because of how they
sound imagine for the meaning they may
just like the sound of a phrase and so I
do that all the time too I pick a word
because I like the sound that makes in
my ear so it's sort of a texture behind
language a shape a weight you know a
speed of language too I mean color has
speed too there's like yellows really
fast and whites real fast and brown slow
and so an artist will know how to handle
all those elements and so a lot of the
text I use is just from kind of almost a
formal way of handling it too
Edgar had done this piece
um on the Indian Massacre and it was
like this text and you know like sort of
inverting some of the letters
and it when I saw it on the wall it says
it reminded me of concrete poetry and
sort of tone poems and there was
something about the inversion of the
letter then that made you think about
what the sound of the word was and then
what the sound of the word would be if
you inverted it and also the way that
you could
um encode meaning in the most basic way
just by flipping things over because
people tend to come to an art gallery
and even if it's a piece just made up of
letters they'll relate to the color and
they'll relate to the design and they
probably wouldn't even pay all that much
attention to what was being said but
there was a way I Edgar grabbed you
there was no way you could avoid it
because he used different colors in the
lettering and the language was so simple
it was like Haiku you know in in that
sense
and you know as I got to know him and
um got to know a lot about you know much
more about you know various Native
American cultures I realized it was
something very the economy was also
about the way the you know that the
language would have been in the kind of
Rhythm the staccato Rhythm that you
would have in the language
I've sort of I guess this by
happenstance established a methodology
to distill
um
I guess big emotions into three words or
so anyway
um I discussed that in the tree in the
sculpture but it comes into three three
or four words
a good artist in a sense works with
everything
in the same way you know whether it's a
sound or a shape or a color a letter you
know the weight of a sculpture the
height of a sculpture words are a
physical
manifestation in terms of the letters
you know they they're they're they're
like a sculptural element or a color
Edgar Rose to the occasion from the
moment we begin to see his concepts of
what this Monument could be and he has
realized that I think in the most
dramatic and dynamic way both as a
formal work of art and the ten totems
that create this medicine wheel and the
language that is written on it that
really engages The Visitor and then as
you move through those 10 totems and you
begin to look at the writing the
graffiti that's on them you are reminded
of so many incidences or facts in the
history of Native American communities
and the struggles that they have had
since the arrival of European settlers
Edgar has created a great work of art
but he's also created a very engaging
piece of sculpture which I think fits
all the criteria being an outstanding
piece of public art
I think public art has a responsibility
to address the public you know it's not
my studio art is more personal you know
my drawings are like poems or graffiti
messages my paintings or like trees and
water and fish but more abstract so
those are more personal and kind of more
closed in the sense of being just about
me and my vision whereas this sculpture
is adheres much more to a broad
Community you know beginning with like
Anasazi you know very old uh traditional
life
Cliff Dwellings petroglyphs and then
coming up to Youth Nation shine
replenation Wounded Knee massacres that
happened in this area of the world so
the whole scope of the work is very
inclusive of many peoples and it's not
just my my story
then he also in bringing all of his
understanding of Native American culture
and some of the major issues relating to
Native American culture he took that
site made it his own and really the
sculpture and the site then become one
as he has married so many traditional
aspects of the medicine wheel summer
solstice and all of those issues into a
very dramatic way
started out you know um
project wheel was actually standing
tablets where it had language on either
side native language and English
language kind of duality
and then I was there doing a site visit
in Denver and actually found a tree in
the front of their Museum area about two
in the morning and it was a big tree
with a big fork in it and then that was
the moment that I sort of realized we
should make like 10 or 12 Trees rather
than have them be kind of post-modernist
tablets standing up we should have them
be more natural to have say 12 of those
that might kind of
um represent kind of a calendar form
medicine wheel that kind of remembrance
of the seasons and the cycle of life
and went up and visited the medicine
wheel in Wyoming a couple of times and
so we've come to this uh
realization of creating ten trees you
know which is another uh evolution of
the project it was based on a medicine
wheel and some current ceremonial
practice uh in the Cheyenne Nation but
I've decided to make my uh Circle have
only 10 trees rather than 12 that
represent the months of the year so
we're not really
creating a an actual religious uh
icon or or tool instrument you know
we're making art we're making a modern
sculpture
the wheel is is a very significant piece
and I think it belongs here in Denver
mainly because it's at the foothills of
the mountains
and the mountains have always been
thought of as very important
to the culture of the Native American
many of the people on the Plains and in
the southwest always went to the
mountains
because
those felt that
these are sacred sites in the sense that
this is where they were able to
not only Ascend but to recreate
themselves in a real positive sense it
allowed them to become who they were and
reinforced who they who they are and who
they were to become
Edgar is an artist of international
recognition today he works throughout
the world
and while he certainly has roots here
and is Native American Edgar's
addressing issues that really are
broader in terms of of the humanities
and issues that relate to mankind on a
universal level and I think that is what
makes Edgar the appropriate artist to
have done this but also Edgar as a major
contemporary artist and while they are
very specific to Native Americans in
some ways but this is a piece of
sculpture with a message that is far
broader than simply being tied to one
culture one place
foreign
and it was part of the initial theme was
to create it as a in a way a component
you know that the trees are standing and
the trees are there in the locations of
the wheel
in Wyoming but they're there to
metaphorically support activities of of
people to come
after I'm gone or you know adjacent to
my life other people's lives are there
to support other people's lives and I
really like that and seeing the piece
now finished I mean it's one of the
strongest parts of it is that it's a
component for other people to engage and
interact with you know what they do with
it and it also hints at something to
come to me it seems like something's
going to happen it's not like a solidly
closed figure dropped from the sky it's
a open-ended literally
then ultimately of course it makes a
circular form that's very affirming
my parents came to visit the sculpture
and when it was a Model 12 foot tall and
one of the things that did it kind of
cradled people and people wanted to sit
in the middle of it and just talk and
visit and it seemed to be kind of a safe
space or a humbly kind of a cradling
space and that was just from the model
and I think that happens here now too
when you walk into the circle
it's kind of a maybe a healing
sensibility
something that reaffirms you
and I think that's that's going to be an
overriding experience
and I'm thankful for this beautiful day
you know early this morning uh
across this country
perhaps across the world
many cultures
observe this solstice
some were educational forms
and others were probably
private ceremonies
Edgar has been in the Forefront
of opening up the debate
on contemporary cultural affairs
it's a home for that Edgar
it's essential
to think about how one is living
and art is just one way of doing that
thinking
I think your life has to be
um
available to you or you need to have
some kind of existence that you can
reflect upon to make art
and if you can't reflect on your life
you can't make any harm
whether it's good or bad you know if you
have things you can that are remarkable
you can make art out of that
foreign
thank you
thank you
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