HAIKU PARK

HAIKU PARK

Haiku Park is

an outdoor sculpture installation
art that you can touch, go inside of, play with, build, or just be with
a way for people to connect - even at a distance
adaptable to almost any situation

I built most of Haiku Park in 2020 on my property in Joshua Tree, CA, with materials I had on hand. My intention was to create art that would provide an opportunity for the public to experience connection, joy, and healing in the aftermath of what has been for so many us a very challenging, sometimes even traumatic,time. Some of the pieces are more meditative, some are more playful, none have a specific message or meaning – that part is left up to the audience.

Haiku Park is adaptable:
- it can include many or just a few installations;
- it is easily transported, installed, and de-installed;
- it can remain on site for weeks, months, or years,
- nighttime lighting creates a dramatic and different experience.

Made of natural materials and steel, it is designed to hold up to public interaction and all kinds of weather. In addition to pieces experienced with the eyes, there are pieces meant to be handled; opportunities for collaboration, workshops, and performance; and a musical element.

Why Haiku? What I find wonderful about haiku has nothing to do with counting syllables – it is that these short poems have a unique ability to express something very specific, sensory, and ephemeral that is also universal and profound.. Similarly, my sculptures catalyze an experience of being present to just what is right in front of you, right now, while also provoking your imagination and feelings on a deeper level. Like haiku poems, my sculpture operates as simply and directly as possible, consisting of everything that is necessary to its purpose and nothing else.

Haiku Park consists of:

The Triple Gate
Bells
Chapel
Pyramid
Stick Figures
Sky Lines
Made-to-suit elements
More

THE TRIPLE GATE

14' tall wooden frames support sculptures that move in the wind. A variety of hanging elements can be swapped in and out in minutes. Asemic, calligraphic, and kinetic, the gates connote a transition between one state and another.

BELLS

Sculpture with a musical element / music with a sculptural element - the Bells can be part of the Triple Gate or stand alone, they can be wind-driven or played like a muscial instrument. They are easily adjusted so that they remain pleasing to the ear in both light and heavy wind.

Click on the image for audio and video.

add performance video here

CHAPEL

Triangular panels 9 ft on a side are easily moved and connected to create various shapes. About 7 feet tall. Easily expanded. Walls as windows, windows as walls. An intimate yet open space.

PYRAMID

A small shelter made of woven Arundo donax, an invasive reed collected as part of habitat restoration projects.

STICK FIGURES

Figurative and abstract sculptures made from greenwaste and eucalyptus culled as part of habitat restoration projects. Sticks are woven and/or secured with steel wire. Height range from 3 - 20 ft. Optionally done with a performance element ("live sculpture") or collaboratively with volunteers or park visitors. Some examples of prior constructions, beginning with the larger pieces: