FIRE GATHERING

Week 13 of 12: The Last Hibernation Project was originally themed RISING FROM THE ASHES and was intended to take place on the 12th weekend of the new year. Sculptures were made from wooden pallets + intended to burn burn burn in a ritual to ring in the Spring. However, it became a Fire Gathering to remember and celebrate our good friend Matthew Mark Bourree, who loved fire + art + a little bit of wildness.

Above photos by Mike Tan. Artwork by NASARIMBA.

ARTISTS + PARTICIPANTS | Angela Dione, Breann Christie & Daniel Barossa, Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett, Christopher Polancec, Lane Shordee, Logan Lape (with help from Svea Ferguson), Matthew Kennedy & Mark Erickson, NASARIMBA (Mikhail Miller & Rachel Ziriada), and Tom Brown

The first sculpture to be burned was a figure by Christopher Polancec, built to reference a character from Baltic traditions surrounding the transition from winter to spring. Coated in wax and wood shavings, once the piece ignited it burst into flame.

The second sculpture to go in the fire was 1 of 3 in a series of geometric forms by NASARIMBA (Mikhail Miller & Rachel Ziriada). Built using off-cuts and wood scraps, the sculptures were burned throughout the evening, creating an abstract narrative chronology. A sparkler, hidden in the wood, ignited halfway into the burning, setting off a tiny explosion of sparks.

Next up were a series of tiny pallets constructed by Tom Brown. Using a full-sized pallet to create the miniatures, Tom was one of two artist groups playing with scale. He used the nails from the same pallet to construct a tiny swiss army knife.

Angela Dione brought a block of maple wood to burn on the fire. Intended as a tribute to Matthew Mark, the wood was an incomplete mallet. You could have heard a pin drop as the wood began to burn, and then words of remembrance were shared around the fire. The maple would have burned forever.

Logan Lape presented a kinetic sculpture that rotated, like a rotisserie machine. The artwork was filled with coniferous branches. The piece took a while to ignite, but once it did, it blazed hot and bright. Logan continued turning the piece until the dowel burned into the fire.

Lane Shordee built a wooden surfboard out of his pallet. Intended as a gift for Wayne Garrett’s Birthday (the previous week), Wayne loved the board so much that he prevented Lane from throwing it in the fire. Lane instead burn a beautiful turned wooden tribute to Matt, privately.

Breann Christie & Daniel Barossa, by sheer coincidence, locked in on the same brain waves as Tom Brown, and built a series of miniature pallets out of full-sized pallets. Their pallets, however, varied in scale. Wrapped in a bundle (almost like a layer cake), when Dan threw the pallets on the fire, the bundle burst open and the pallets went up in flames.

The FriendSHIP was the second last piece to burn. Designed by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett as a tribute for Matthew Mark, the piece was filled with notes for Matt, written on paper provided in the sun porch. The sculpture was ignited with a series of 2-foot sparklers and the help of friends.

After the FriendSHIP was set assail on seas of fire, the last – and most challenging – artwork was burning. Built by Matthew Kennedy & Mark Erickson, the form was a ring constructed from 5 wooden pallets. Too large for the firepit, the piece was loaded with naive optimism and guarded by buckets of water, several fire extinguishers, and sober eyes.