Not In My Back Yard - Paper Making
I was thinking about the Viola and how it's a weed, but most people accept it in their gardens. That got me thinking about the 'Not in my back yard' mentality many people have regarding refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants in general. Many people feel pity for refugess and people less fortunate than themselves seeking a better life, and in theory are happy for them to come to the UK...just not in their town.
These 2 thoughts combined and I started thinking wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get people to take some viola seeds home and plant them in their back garden as a metaphor for accepting immigrants - a kind of 'welcome to my back yard' rather than 'not in my back yard'.
I thought I could make my own seed impregnated paper that people could just place in a pot and cover with a little soil, or put straight in the garden - as long as they water them and keep them moist they will grow as the paper pulp provides a seed growing medium. It's pretty basic gardening and viola seeds can be sown in June (when the final exhibition will be) for winter flowering, so I bought a paper making mould and deckle.
The instructions were pretty clear but basic and I wanted to make paper that would go with the colour scheme I am using and incorporate some viola flowers from my own back yard as well as the seeds, so I looked for a few paper making tutorials online. I found the following one very helpful, as it explained how to make the paper thicker , how to incorporate the flowers in many different ways and that if using seeds you need to dry the paper quickly otherwise the seeds will germinate before the paper is dry!:
Paper making tutorial
Whilst poetry is not something I've ever really tried before, I surprised myself and I came up with a little poem to write on each sheet of seed paper - half growing instructions, half a social commentary on what immigrants are looking for when they move:
Give me a bed to lie in
Water to quench my thirst
Food to nourish me
An opportunity to grow
I will make several postcard sized sheets, put them in a card dispenser next to my piece in the exhibition with a "please take one - winter flowering viola seeds to plant at home"' sign.
These 2 thoughts combined and I started thinking wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get people to take some viola seeds home and plant them in their back garden as a metaphor for accepting immigrants - a kind of 'welcome to my back yard' rather than 'not in my back yard'.
I thought I could make my own seed impregnated paper that people could just place in a pot and cover with a little soil, or put straight in the garden - as long as they water them and keep them moist they will grow as the paper pulp provides a seed growing medium. It's pretty basic gardening and viola seeds can be sown in June (when the final exhibition will be) for winter flowering, so I bought a paper making mould and deckle.
The instructions were pretty clear but basic and I wanted to make paper that would go with the colour scheme I am using and incorporate some viola flowers from my own back yard as well as the seeds, so I looked for a few paper making tutorials online. I found the following one very helpful, as it explained how to make the paper thicker , how to incorporate the flowers in many different ways and that if using seeds you need to dry the paper quickly otherwise the seeds will germinate before the paper is dry!:
Paper making tutorial
Whilst poetry is not something I've ever really tried before, I surprised myself and I came up with a little poem to write on each sheet of seed paper - half growing instructions, half a social commentary on what immigrants are looking for when they move:
Give me a bed to lie in
Water to quench my thirst
Food to nourish me
An opportunity to grow
I will make several postcard sized sheets, put them in a card dispenser next to my piece in the exhibition with a "please take one - winter flowering viola seeds to plant at home"' sign.
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