GROWTH

2008

Beaullieu collaborated with Karen Abboud, Stacey Stanfill and Belinda Tanno to cut a jungle-like path in a back yard in the Lakeview area of New Orleans. The yard had become overgrown since the cutting down of all the trees that were damaged during Hurricane Katrina. The installation was a part of the Aorta Projects-Site Specific Art for the Post-Disaster Communities of Today during Prospect 1, New Orleans.

This project transformed the site into a safe place to regeneration since Katrina has up rooted and regrouped many of us and our environment. The storm has been a catalyst for pursuing new paths, providing us with a need to be deliberate of the traces we are leaving behind. During an evacuation process we pack bags, decide what is important to take with us, what do we need and how much stuff IS necessary.

Altars were constructed on the tree trucks that lay hidden on the paths of the over grown backyard: an opportunity for personal reflection and play. On the tree trunks, we have stacked piles of stuff. Above the ginger forest, we made colorful streamers; they are reconstructed from fragments of clothing that had been left behind. The altars were located on these tree stumps as a memorial to all the trees that have disappeared. The uprooted trees have given way to light and have stimulated us to come face to face with our intention, which is GROWTH!