This work can best be defined as Conceptual Land Art. It is a site-specific participatory project that was located in Webster’s open and beautiful surroundings. The nature around the school promises severance from busy daily lives, thus creating distance from the “real world.” Environmental conservation and sustainable development are among the key challenges faced by countries and communities across the world. This exhibition addresses the urgent issues of our times, the importance of participation in finding solutions to the widespread environmental issues affecting our planet. With the work, I encourage the visitors to engage in the space, both physically and psychologically, which gives the potential for reflection on how the two relate to one another.Most of the materials I use are recycled and reclaimed, which acts as a commentary on consumerist “throwaway” culture. I focus on natural fabrics that can later return to their natural cycles. I work with the phenomenological understandings of beauty, focusing on the moment of beauty beginning when your senses are captured. With the embroidered banners I use the perception of embroidery as a creative outlet to communicate social messages from students at Webster University. Messages that aim to transform and challenge preconceived notions within our society. Installing the messages in natural surroundings I aim to captivate the visitors’ existence with sensory input, creating settings for them to experience themselves as relational beings, settings where they receive meaning. The focus is not on the fact that people participate, but on the fact that participation is the main principle governing human interactions.
Ásthildur B. Jónsdóttir 