Trees for Haiti required a physical installation on the Portland State University campus that created an emotional investment on the part of PSU students in post-earthquake Haiti. It also required a great deal of research into the typical Portland State student.
I aimed to move past representations of Haitians as victims and instead asked questions of how they could be empowered to work on long-term solutions to rebuild their country and become a self-sustaining society.
I worked to identify a cultural meme that united Portland State and Haiti, in order to facilitate in students a more contextual and appropriate emotional response to Haitian issues. The research I conducted within the student community helped to inform the direction I took as I worked to design an experience that wouldn't just slip through the busy lives of the often unengaged PSU student.
I came up with trees. Our institution's penchant for sustainability pervades the PSU experience. The Pacific Northwest is home to beautiful, valuable and protected forests. Haiti, on the other hand, has suffered from a seriously devastated landscape as a result of mass deforestation. The resulting soil erosion compounds the effects of flooding and creates inarable land. With no farmland, a local food system cannot exist. The reforestation of Haiti would bring food, jobs, security, health and economy to the country. Trees would empower Haiti and give the nation a sustainable solution for building a future. And most importantly from an engagement standpoint, trees are something that PSU students can get behind.
I used the visual language of logging, working with neon plastic ribbons that ordinarily indicate that a tree is to be removed. I also wished to create a participatory movement employing the language of support ribbon movements. We are all familiar with the ease with which we can associate ourselves with any number of awareness campaigns by simply donning a colored ribbon. I also wanted to incorporate the concept of prayer trees, which through research I found to exist in many cultures and in many forms.
Design Seminar
Taught by Sara Schmidt
Spring 2010
