The Big Ears Vibe begins to permeate downtown Knoxville . . .
Krutch Park embraces splashes of color year-round in the form of sculptures replaced each summer by the Art in Public Spaces an ongoing exhibition effort led by Dogwood Arts. Christmas sparkles in the park with lights tiny and large and the green and red of the Christmas tree. Spring is the best, greens emerging and merging with pops of colorful blooms. Fall glows with all manner of color.
A spectacular new statement of color erupted in the park yesterday, with a fabric art installation by Tulsa-based fabric artist Rachel Hayes. Titled “Reverb,” she envisioned a connection to sound echoing off the buildings as Big Ears takes over the city. Funded by the City of Knoxville’s Public Arts Committee and the Arts & Culture Alliance, Liza Zenni said the installation will remain in place from the Big Ears Festival through Rossini Festival, so we’ll enjoy it for nearly three weeks. Owned by the city, we can hope for its re-emergence next spring.
Hayes said as she formed her ideas for her proposal, she thought about the music festival “My art being textiles, can easily be taken down, folded up, and come back again next year, so I thought it was a good fit. My dad’s a musician, so I’m attracted to this kind of project.” She’s had (or currently has) exhibitions across the country and as far away as Italy, Greece, and Turkey and her work has been featured across a wide range of publications including Architectural Digest, Vogue, the New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, and Harper’s Bazaar.
She said the call for call for artists was very open, allowing her to explore her own concept of how her art might interact with the festival. She was excited to learn about the festival and hopes she can return next year to visit her art and experience the music. The tight timeline, she said, made the creative juices flow. “It lends its own exhilaration. You have to go with your gut response to the site. It’s also collaboration with the city, so it’s impressive to pull something like this off.”
She visited in February, walking through the space and imagining what she might do and how it might be installed. She thought about how people use the park and which elements she could work with, like the pillars on either side of the fountain. She imagined the different perspectives from which the art would be viewed and how the light would impact it through the day.
“I have to think practically, and also how to make it my style. I’m really into color and scale, and pattern, and texture. I build in wind pockets that let in air to the piece, and that’s like the black and white colors. I think there’s a rhythm, a staccato to the color, the way it moves around and the way that you will move around the work with your eye. It’s a grand gesture to introduce the idea that something is happening. Maybe someone will take this walk they’ve not taken before and see the next piece that leads to the sculpture garden, and suddenly you’re in Market Square.”
I visited as the sun came into the park from behind the building and after it faded. I returned in the morning light. The fabric allows outlines, whether of the city or of the greening branches of the trees. It sometimes sprays light and patterns on the ground. Come and play. Look through, around, and over the project from different angles. Enjoy the color, the shifting geometric designs on the ground, the sound of fabric flapping, and the leafy green beginning to surround it all. A beautiful spot in the city just got a little more beautiful.