Updated: "Wilderness is ..." community art project continues at Omphale Gallery through Feb. 29

By Michele Bourdieu

CALUMET -- "Wilderness is ...," a community art project of photos and anonymous drawings, is still on exhibit through Friday, Feb. 29, at the Omphale Gallery in Calumet. It also continues on a Web site that is updated weekly with post card art.

These post card responses to artist George Desort's "Wilderness is ..." project are on exhibit at the Omphale Gallery in Calumet through Feb. 29. The exhibit continues on a Web site that is updated weekly. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

The exhibit drew a large crowd at the Jan. 11 opening, which also included a free showing of the "Wilderness is ..." DVD by local artist George Desort, who, as artist-in-residence in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park last August, asked park visitors to finish the thought, "Wilderness is ..." with one word, which they wrote on poster board. Photos of their responses are exhibited at the Omphale, along with post card drawings also expressing personal ideas about Wilderness.

Anonymous post cards responding to George Desort's "Wilderness is ..." community art project are still on exhibit in the Omphale Gallery in Calumet through Feb. 29. (Photo © 2008 and courtesy George Desort)

John Vucetich, Michigan Tech University professor and co-leader of Isle Royale wolf-moose research, introduced the exhibit at the Jan. 11 opening. He explained the purpose of keeping the post card artists anonymous.

"Because the artist is anonymous, we don't know if the person who made (the post card) was very ignorant or very wise," Vucetich said. "The only thing we know for sure is that our own view of wilderness is incomplete, so we have to wrestle with this ourselves."

John Vucetich, left, MTU professor and co-leader of Isle Royale wolf-moose research, introduces the showing of the DVD, "Wilderness is ...," by artist George Desort, right, as local artist Joyce Koskenmaki looks on, during the Jan. 11 opening of the exhibit at the Omphale Gallery in Calumet. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Desort hiked with a video camera on his shoulder and took shots of a variety of natural scenes in the Porkies. A voice-over by Joe Kaplan juxtaposes the visitors' one-word answers to "Wilderness is ..." with the visual beauties of the park. The DVD is the result. Desort said nothing about the film was preconceived. *

At the Jan. 11 reception for the exhibit, Desort explained how the project began with his two-week stay in the Porkies.

"I was there just filming and getting people to write words on posters," he explained. "The words are from people who were in the Porcupine Mountains Park during those two weeks."

Photos of visitors to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park with their posters and one-word responses to "Wilderness is ..." are on display in the Omphale Gallery in Calumet through Feb. 29. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Those who wanted to express more than one word could make a 4" x 6" post card. The post card art is also displayed on the Web site, Wilderness is ... at http://desort.pixyblog.com/

The Jan. 11 reception drew a large crowd, including Canadian Kjerstin Maki, a museum conservator from Victoria, British Columbia.

"Wilderness is evolving; and, if you're there looking at it, it's not wilderness anymore," Maki noted. "I think we should protect it from the outside."

Sarah Green of Calumet said she liked the idea of exhibiting participatory art.

"I like the combination of the photos and post card art," Green said.

These anonymous post card responses to "Wilderness is ..." are on display in the Omphale Gallery. More of them can be found on the Wilderness is ... Web site, which is being updated with more contributions to the project from the public.

"The Wilderness is... project is growing. The website is updated with a new collection of post card art every Tuesday," Desort reported recently in an email message. "I am still looking for more post card art expressing the different interpretations of wilderness. And thank you to all who have already participated. The collection is displayed at the Omphale Gallery in Calumet, MI, until the end of the month."

This post card is displayed on the Wilderness is ... Web site, which is updated with a new collection of post card art every Tuesday. (Photo © 2008 and courtesy George Desort)

The Omphale exhibit by George Desort also includes over 200 of his color photographs of birds killed as a result of the recent botulism e outbreak in the northern waters of Lake Michigan. A two-minute video of a long-tailed duck stricken with the bacterium is part of this exhibit.

This photo by George Desort depicts the destruction of birds as a result of the recent botulism e outbreak in the northern waters of Lake Michigan. Over 200 of these photos are part of the "Wilderness is ..." exhibit at the Omphale Gallery in Calumet through Feb. 29. (Photo © 2008 and courtesy George Desort)

The Omphale Gallery is at 431 Fifth Street in Calumet. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Call (906) 337-2036 for more information.

* Visit the Wilderness is ... Web site in order to learn how you can order the DVD, "Wilderness is ..." or contribute to this ongoing community art project with your own post card art.