Stanley Park Environmental Art - Ephemeral Works

Ecological response

provided by Jarrid Jenkins, Public Programs Manager at SPES, for Birth

Tania Willard had originally proposed to paint a stump near Siwash Rock with red ochre:

I am proposing to paint the vertical area of the stump with red ochre mixed with a natural carrier oil ( fish oil, olive oil, or if that is too much of an impact, I can use water). On the surface of the ochre I want to paint a design from the petroglyph rock with beeswax. This will allow the image to be mostly invisible at first but appear after rain when the background ochre is washed away. The ochre capped with the beeswax stays for a longer time, then this layer will fade as well. The rain, such an essential part of a West Coast forest, is a part of this piece as it will reveal another layer of the work in time.

Jarrid Jenkin's response below is based on that original proposal. When the stump Tania had chosen turned out to be culturally modified (cedar bark had been harvested from the tree at some point, most likely by First Nations people), the stump could no longer be used for the art project. Tania then found the rootball on Cathedral Trail that became Birth. Below is the conversation that took place between Jarrid Jenkins, Tania Willard, and Anna Nobile, Community Arts Programmer for the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

Hello Tania,
With regards to the piece you've proposed:

This sounds like a nice progression from your earlier questions about materials and potential impacts on the ecology of the tree. We are still fine with the combination of ochre and beeswax painted on the exposed surface of tree you have identified. The materials themselves aren't worrisome and again we'd like to comment on how interesting it will be to see if any animals, insects, birds etc. make use of the beeswax in any way. The only concern we would have about the beeswax surface treatment is about the amount of surface area being covered— if the whole thing is covered then that limits the access by insects and/or other animals that would otherwise take advantage of the exposed surface of the tree. It sounds like you are not planning on covering the whole area so this shouldn't be too big of a concern.

Another concern we wanted to mention was with regards to treating the same large surface area with an oil that might end up as rancid or attracting animals to the site. We're really just raising these points more out of curiosity than anything as there is no "related study" that might warn us about the impact an oiled surface might have on the local ecology. We think it will somehow affect wood-boring insects and possibly birds (woodpeckers, etc.) but mostly with regards to access versus a health risk, although I guess we can't say for sure that there would be no health risk, especially if the oil does become rancid. On the other hand, perhaps the oil would be fine as we head into cooler weather, and more than likely its high calorie content will be attractive to some insects. Another interesting consideration.

One last concern: Is the stump close to the trail? We can't tell from the photo but it would be awesome if the public had a chance to view it. I'm sure it is but we couldn't tell from the photos.

Cheers,
Jarrid Jenkins
Public Programs Manager

Tania Willard, in response to concerns:

1. I am not intending to cover a very large area at all with the wax, just one or two designs and only solid lines maybe an inch think, no real filled in areas.
2. In terms of oil: yes I wasn't sure about the oil but I can also use water. I thought using salmon oil would be interesting to see what happens to it and also this is sort of historically what ochre was combined with for pictographs, but I am fine to use water really, it will speed up the washing away process, I think.
3. The stump is very close to the trail and it is in that clearing area. Its totally observable, its right there.

It is at this point that the stump was identified by Brian Quinn, Supervisor of Stanley Park, as culturally modified. He notified Anna Nobile, who spoke to Tania by telephone. Tania then proposed the same treatment for a rootball on Cathedral Trail.

After conversations with Brian Quinn, Guy Pottinger (Acting Foreman, Stanley Park) and Jarrid Jenkins, Anna sent Tania this email:

The ground around Cathedral Trail is wetter and muckier than the higher ground you had previously chosen around Siwash, so there will be more impact to the soil as you walk around and compact the ground. You may be asked to lay down boards to walk on. Working on a ladder in this type of soil will be difficult, maybe even a little dangerous if the ground isn't level and the ladder has to be balanced on a board. You will definitely need someone to help you, especially to steady the ladder. There will be more impact to the soil, plants and animals/insects of the rootball, even if you scrape away/disturb the soil of the rootball as little as possible. The ochre would have to be mixed with water in this case, not oil, as oil will have a greater impact. Its unclear how close to the trail the rootball is. There has been some stated concern that if the rootball is too far off trail, the art piece would encourage people to walk through this environmentally sensitive area to get a closer look. It's hard for us to tell from the photos, so I'm hoping the rootball is close to the trail.

Tania responded:

[The rootball] is right beside the trail, not off trail at all. I don't think I would need to use the ladder as I can reach most of the area I need to work on. Laying down boards is fine. It is a very short distance— like four feet or less between the trail and rootball. I would only be cleaning the dirt away from the very top surface of the root ball which is mostly clean of dirt anyway, I just want to make it a bit clearer so the ochre will show up, depending on the colour/texture maybe I won't even need to strip it. Maybe I can just clean and paint with ochre.