DESIRE PATH

2021

yard waste, groundcover perennials

approx. 8' diameter

“Desire Path,” reimagines yard waste to create a rich foundation for commentary on the environment and the ways in which humans interact with it. By compiling large mounds of compostable organic materials commonly sent to landfills in plastic trash bags or burned, once living leaves, sticks, and other vegetation provide fertile ground for physical and sensory connection. Vibrant pink and green thyme (thymus serpyllum, zone 3-10) planted in simple quilt patterns withstand light foot traffic once established and invites the viewer to release a gentle lemon sent with each footstep and touch.

The completed artwork is not the mound itself but the documentation of human impact. Will people be mindful about the amount of foot traffic it can withstand, care for, and preserve it, or will the desire to experience it ultimately destroy it and return it to yard waste?

The mound form has a cultural connection to the Korean tradition of burying the departed under mounds along hillsides, deep with symbolism honoring life, death, and memory.