Newspaper Press in Moosehead Messenger and Moosehead Matters!

Zoning is Sexy! Taboo? What is Mildred Kennedy-Stirling’s recent artwork about? It is 200 years of land use, experiences, and accessing the North Maine Woods. Development, the working forest and the wilderness have always and continue to attract people. Mildred wants people to see beyond their own experiences to other’s experiences and use of the landscape. The three mannequins represent these attractions to the North Maine Woods: development, working forest, and wilderness. The mannequins are sexy because humor opens conversations in an otherwise taboo subject. Each piece asks people what really matters in the North Maine Woods? The piece as a whole speaks to how our experiences are all connected; we are in this place together. Changes are inevitable, but the quality of a place’s attractions is essential to quality of life.

Mildred did the piece because the debate over land use, experiences and access affects everyone: residents and visitors. The Historical and current issues are connected. Zones mark the official land use but these marks do not convey the multitude of uses actually experienced on the land. The artwork, “Zoning is Sexy! Taboo?” consists of an eight-foot by eight-foot backdrop. It is a collage of 200 years of human land use paperwork: maps, newspapers, books, advertisements, logos and references to canoeing, stage coaches, railways, hunting, snowmobiling, hiking, skiing, ATVs and more. Mildred placed plastic over the collage as a lens to write important words. These words are signs of human experience in the place. The words project upon the collage adding another layer of connection between the North Maine Woods and human experiences. The three mannequins stand before the backdrop. The working forest mannequin wears the skin of the Delorme Maine Gazetteer. Victoria Secret lingerie had Beaver fur [nature’s engineer], chainsaw chains and bullets added to represent the jobs, hunting and animals of the North Maine Woods. The Development mannequin wears the Greenville zoning map and her White Victoria Secret lingerie has Greenville “For Sale” signs to speak of how the landscape is a commodity. The third mannequin, wilderness, wears the Moosehead Lake region Delorme map and moss has been applied to her Victoria Secret lingerie. The moss grows and fades due to feeding. Like the landscape, it is alive and in a state of constant change. The three mannequins present the three attractions to the North Maine Woods [development, working forest and wilderness] and the mannequins reflect in the plastic on the backdrop adding another example of connections between land use and human experience. Like the world the artwork is made of independent, interdependent and connected parts; Experiences are all connected; we are in this place together.

The artwork, “Zoning is Sexy! Taboo?” is on view at Moosehead View 2 lily bay road in Greenville until July 29^th when it will be moving on to Montpelier Vermont.

Final Critique First Term

Sunday evening Natasha Mayers viewed my artwork, "Zoning is Sexy! Taboo?" in the Moosehead View Gallery windows. The night time viewing was excellent. The words on the plexi reflected upon the collage as did the mannequins. I was very pleased with how it all came together. It felt great to stand back and see it, done. Natasha shared my enthusiasum. She suggested I write a simple explaination of the piece to accompany my artist statement in the window and to try to get an explaination in the local paper. It was published today. Seeing the color photos in the Moosehead Messenger was great! I hope more people stop by and view the work. I have had great fedback and questions.

Natasha and I shared a great term. This was a great step for me into public art and engaging cultural and social geography directly. The humor helped me and made it approachable for the community too. When you have this much fun, it does not feel like work.

Bert Call et miss elizabeth

Took the wee road racer down to Monson to see the Bert Call exhibit. Lovely prints of Bert Call's old negatives. Todd Watt restored and printed them. Lovely! His exploration and documentation, 1886-1940s of the North Maine Woods was 35 years after Thoreau's visits. I wanted to get in the spirit for next week's Thoreau-Wabanaki festival in Greenville. Seeing black and white large scale prints is breath taking; It is the details.

Raced back to photograph miss elizabeth. We have played phone tag for four months since the winter interview. It was fun and silly. She wanted to dress up. I wanted the piece of dyeki. In sum we got five shoots; three of which I think are workable. I love the pose of passed out on the grass with spilled glass. It felt like a Kate Spade Advertisement. The dyeki was worth the wait. I am eager to see the actual negative. It is perfect in my head, and hopefully the negative will not let me down. E wore an angle wing charm. The close up is of finger grasping dryki and the dangling charm. Loved it! Tomorrow off to see my wee sister barrel race in Showhegan. I'm gonna take the hobo and the holga! It is a day off to play and let wee Avis see the fair. I need to regroup to critique my installation Sunday for any final tweaks before Natasha comes on Monday. Exhale...

Maine Center for Contemporary Arts

Visited the center last week for a talk on landscape by artists in this year's biannual. A young woman from Peaks Island, Jessica George, applied resin over her painting. I really appreciated the reflective quality. As a viewer you feel a part of the painting. It takes on the space it is placed into for viewing. I have always appreciated this added effect of framing. I talked to Jessica about the process, but it involves the use of a torch to remove bubbles, so that is out with paper assemblage. Also, resin is nasty and I prefer not to consciously polute. Also, I like that my materials come from Ace hardware or found and saved in my studio.

I ordered plexiglass panels. I have written words on the plexi that convey the heat and passionate of the issues of space and place in the North Maine Woods. I have it up in my Greenville downtown storefront, and I visit it to think about where it is at and where I want to be. Many folks are stopping to read the artist statement and discuss which mannequin they like the most. The words add narrative dirrecting focus into my critique of land as commodity, recreation and wild.

Fourth July Parade

A slow drive through town and it is over. It was an experience: Good, nothing bad and a little ugly. The turn out this year was impressive, people lining the road. It took two hours to plaster the truck with signs and screw everything to the flatbed. We parked and waited for an hour in line and the actual parade took half an hour. Many people clapped and laughed. Many asked what? I heard three young women ask what is zoning. While in line, State Representative Thomas firmly expressed that zoning sucks and exclaimed that no one should tell a property owner what to do with their land. My husband urged him to come back and let me explain the work. He came, but after Eric had told him to listen and not just blow right wing ideology, he was not open to discussion. He stated his case that zoning in Portland is one thing, but up here there is no need. I tried to explain to him that it was a discussion of access: historical, present and future, but he was not interested. Along the parade my husband noticed more women laughed and cheered than men. I had fun. I loved researching the piece and I hope some take time to look at the work and see all uses share the common need for space to recreate, work and live. The structure and boundaries are points of record and open for discussion.

Thank you to everyone who cheered and laughed, after the grumpiness in line I appreciated that some people were creative and open to poking fun.

Happy Fourth! Mildred.

mannequins

The "Zoning is Sexy" work will be presented as a float in the Greenville, Maine fourth of July parade. I hope people enjoy it, get it, see the humor, and think. Ideas are curious things; they made you think.

The installation is an assemblage of land use media used in the North Maine Woods to navigate and interpret space. The map is an accepted authority of designating space. Victoria Secret is an accepted authority of sexy lingerie. I have appropriated these materials and many more for a discursive assemblage of land use and access determined by North Maine Woods’ zoning. The discussion of zoning engages taboo issues of property rights, public access, public domain, local control, and land use. It is sexy to play in the space but the intimacy of its special places intimidates people causing anger and fear. Change is inevitable, but damage and lose of resources, economics and use is the scary topic we cannot continue to avoid. An open honest dialog is needed and necessary to protect the qualities and resources that are here. The value of both the resources and the experiences are at stake.