Jennifer Hecker

Memory Lane in a Ghost Town

Sited in the school-group entrance to Memorial Art Gallery, this work questioned what remains when a life is gone. It used a tree as a metaphor for life itself, but there was no tree present in the work. The tree guard protected nothing but emptiness. Where a tree would normally grow in the center of the tree grate, there was a container full of cast paper, ghost-like leaves. Paper, like the charcoal that covered the floor, is made from trees. There were white, cast plaster leaves attached to the white walls. School kids used the stepping stones to reach the walls and made rubbings off the leaves in relief, with the tissue paper and ground charcoal provided. On the other side of the space was the receptacle to place the tissue paper rubbings, which were burned at the end of the installation, like burning leaves in Autumn.

Dimensions
12ft x 12ft x 5ft
Materials
installation with cast plaster leaves attached to the wall, lump charcoal, an empty tree guard, a tree grate, cast paper leaves, the bottom of a Smokey Joe Weber grill, welded steel, crushed charcoal, tissue paper, and clay dishes
Collection
installation for The Memorial Art Gallery for the school group entrance to the museum