Chipko, Judith G. Levy; Jason Zeh; David Ross

Artwork Overview

Chipko, Judith G. Levy; Jason Zeh; David Ross
Chipko, Judith G. Levy; Jason Zeh; David Ross
Judith G. Levy ; Jason Zeh ; David Ross
Chipko
2018
Judith G. Levy, artist
Jason Zeh, artist
David Ross, artist
Chipko, 2018
Where object was made: United States
Accession number: IA2018.009
Not on display
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Art in the Grove

This project is called CHIPKO, which means “hugging” in Hindi and references the origins of tree hugging. Chipko began in the Uttar Pradesh in the Himalayas as a way to prevent deforestation which was causing flooding and landslides. In 1973, a group of women from a village in the Himalayas gathered in their local forest to form circles around trees, protecting them from loggers. These activists were inspired by historical efforts to protect trees in India in 1731, when local residents in Khejarli, Rajasthan, sacrificed their lives in an attempt to save sacred Khejari trees from being cut down to construct a new palace for the maharajah. After the first success of the Chipko protests in 1973, the movement spread across the region, inspiring a series of protests throughout the 1970s which effectively prevented the logging of multiple forests in India. Through the Chipko movement, tree-hugging captured worldwide attention along with other environmentalist movements in the 1970s like the creation of Earth Day and the establishment of the Endangered Species Act. Tap the web icon to learn more about the Chipko movement.

The trees of Marvin Grove were planted first by Chancellor James Marvin in 1878, when he spoke of making a “garden out of a prairie.” Thus, Marvin Grove, at its root, is a disruption of binary notions of the human-made and the natural. It is a space ripe with potential to ask questions about humanity’s relationship to the natural world. Where do we, as humans, draw lines between our own creative action and natural creation? Tap the web icon to read KU’s management plan for Marvin Grove, which includes more information about the history of the grove and the trees that grow there.

The CHIPKO installation links the tree hugging actions of the women of Uttar Pradesh to the tree planting of James Marvin. Five phosphorescent wooden benches symbolically hug five designated trees. The relationship between the sun and the trees is an intrinsic relationship that highlights interconnectedness, reciprocity and nature’s grand design. The benches glow in the dark for up to ten hours, artificially mimicking the relationship that trees have with the sun. Just as the leaves of the trees absorb sunlight in order to nourish the plants and allow them to grow, the benches absorb sunlight allowing them to glow. Tap the web icon to read more about how phosphorescence works. Two benches have integrated audio; one of which relies on solar power like the phosphorescent paint. The audio addresses the theme of interconnectedness, deriving sounds from both natural and synthetic sources and breaking down distinctions between the natural and artificial as it reveals human invention’s reliance on the natural world. Tap the audio icon to hear some samples of the audio component of this work.

Exhibitions

Art in the Grove
Saralyn Reece Hardy, curator
2018
Art in the Grove
Saralyn Reece Hardy, curator
2018

Resources

Video

WATCH "A conversation with Vandana Shiva- Treehugging and Chipko Movement"

Documents

Media Coverage

Links

READ the Unviersity of Kansas Marvin Grove Management Plan
READ more about how paint can glow in the dark
READ more about Kansas City's Open Spaces