Review

A review of Happy Tree Friends–Part I
(or Standing: Tree as Agent, Index, Object of Desire)

la Esquina
(Charlotte Street Foundation & Urban Culture Project)
Kansas City, Missouri
March 6 — April 18, 2009

Participants during the opening night of "Happy Tree Friends" sample pecan colostrum by Carnal Torpor, which created foods from trees and other ingredients native to Missouri. Each "Try," including the one being served tonight, is an experimental meal aiming to give people a direct connection to the natural world. All photos: Abby Rufkahr

Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “I went to the woods to live deliberately, to front the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” In this fast-paced technological age, it is rare that one actually slows down, stops, and takes a look around. We unconsciously lose touch with our environment, forgetting the innate bond human beings actually share with the natural world.

Greeted by the whirring sounds of ordinary bustle from Barry Anderson’s Epic Escapism and the field murmurs of Margaret Shelby’s Sound Forest, those who attended the opening of Happy Tree Friends—Part I (or Standing: Tree as Agent, Index, Object of Desire) were immediately transported to a place amongst the trees where the barriers we place between nature and us no longer exist. Happy Tree Friends evolved from a collaboration of the Charlotte Street Foundation’s Urban Culture Project with the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, which opened its own exhibition, Trees and Ramifications: Branches in Nature and Culture. (Other gallery spaces in Lawrence also have tree-centric exhibitions currently.) The main objective is to bring together a variety of artists from around the Midwest region and other areas who, in some way, incorporate trees into their artwork.

The featured artists do not necessarily use trees to evoke or portray the same set of insights or personal beliefs, but rather, collectively each piece is meant to make us step back, take a moment and once again realize the enduring connection between nature and us.

Using the idea that trees give us a very direct link with the primitive world, each of the 25 artists portray that bond, or lack there of, in very unique, stylistic manners, shining light on many different thought-provoking attributions. In many cases, the artists focused on the direct interaction between humans and the earth. In Carnal Torpor’s Try, guests were invited to taste the Pecan Nipple Cookies and the Pecan Colostrum at the exhibition opening. (Another Try is scheduled for April's First Friday event). Using separate techniques for the experimental meals, each was made from the fruit of the pecan tree as well other ingredients natural to the Missouri area. The natural treats were served on a sculptural table decorated with diagrams of the ingredients and processes used by the artists. Overall, the experience of Torpor’s Try provided each participant with an obvious interaction with natural world, allowing everyone to come together in a delightful exploration of the biological and cultural content of nature as food.

Mark Cowardin, "Give and Take" (exterior view)

Taking the idea of direct interaction in a different direction, Mark Cowardin presents Give and Take, an installation of wood and metal that takes on the shape of an electrical system. The main “electrical” source is displayed outside of the gallery, composed of stacked wooden logs with interwoven mechanical characteristics that collectively “plug” into the side of the building. The installation then flows throughout the interior of the gallery as wood and metal conduits that nearly disappear or are mistaken for actual fixtures of the gallery space. The objective of Cowardin’s Give and Take shows the direct link between human and nature, humorously playing on the fact that the large stack of logs looks completely absurd plugged into the building, as the human-molded fixtures inside — though still detailed with tree branches and wood — become a natural part of the reality within.

Other artists shift focus to the actual disconnection that has formed in this cold, modern society or even more so to the longing for reconnection to our natural roots. In Julia Cole’s opening night performance Embrace, three performers were connected at the waist by brown belts and moved around the room as a single unit, reminiscent of a tree trunk with individual branches. Each performer held a bag with a special surprise that could only be obtained by each who participated through the giving and receiving of a hug. The piece is meant to portray the awareness of a separation from nature and each other as well as the desire or need for a more interconnected existence. The common American practice of personal space, between strangers especially, is thrown out the door, bringing light to the idea that we are all here and sharing the same world.

Carols Rosales-Silva, "No National Monument," 2008, dimensions variable, sand, wood, feather, ink, hatchet, balloons, found objects, gouache

In a different fashion, Carlos Rosales-Silva also draws attention to this disconnection in his piece No National Monument. The freestanding installation consists of a hatchet striking a log in the center of several rings of pink, white, and yellow sands. The hatchet is decorated with colored balloons tied around the handle as well as a quill pen dangling from its end. Indian statuettes also circle the base of the log. The overall piece is striking and thought-provoking, touching slightly on the idea that the Native American culture is assumed as a dead way of life even though it continues to thrive. Even more so, however, it focuses on the feeling of disconnect between nature and human life. The human-made hatchet handle is desperately and almost destructively trying to reconnect to its natural log source, using the sharp axe as its means to do so. With very simple, seemingly everyday objects, Rosales-Silva portrays very complex yet relevant ways of thinking about the modern world in which we live.

Another way the Happy Tree Friends artists bring light to this enduring link between nature and us is in the value of observation, or actually taking time to look around and evaluate what is naturally right in front of us. In Kari Maddux’s Untitled pieces, conscientious observation is truly vital to forming these beautiful human scale drawings, which focus on the idea of trees reflecting the human body, interior and exterior, as well as humanly conflicts, both personal and general. Maddux has observed the organic life forms, noting the similarities between the tree branches and the human nervous and circulatory systems. Pushing these observations even further, the artist draws a direct connection between internal human conflicts and the duality of the tree branches reaching towards the sky and the tree roots set deep within the earth. The strong connections made in these pieces prove the incredible power of observation in obtaining a more thorough knowledge of human life in context of the vastly incredible world surrounding us.

Overall, Happy Tree Friends is not just beautiful, lighthearted, and refreshing, but it also dives into a deeper level of thinking and challenges how life is lived and seen within modern society. Walking away from experiencing the exhibition, it is certainly clear the significant bond we as living, breathing beings of this earth share with the surrounding natural world. By getting caught up in this fast-paced commercial life, it is easy to forget this connection, and in doing so, we miss out on obtaining the one thing for which we all truly search: a greater understanding of who we are and why we are here. So slow down, stop, and take a look around you. It is amazing what you might discover in a place amongst the trees. -re-