I’ve designed a totem pole memorial to celebrate trees’ lives, as totems have done for humans. It expresses the tree’s story and journey through the years, its life, and its admiration after its death, like traditional human tombstones. It focuses on the tree’s story. I think my design has answered the questions I sought in the project proposal, as it has answered the question of our importance to trees and how we are like them. It’s allowed me to realise that the human story and connection to the tree isn’t the central part, but the tree’s life and events hold much greater significance. I felt disconnected from my findings throughout my extensive research into tree mythology. So I thought I must look into my story with splitting logs, but that felt too personal, and not everyone would relate. So, by bringing the significance back to the trees story after hearing many people’s stories, I felt this gave a good representation of trees. I think my primary research in talking to people online and in person about their stories with trees and finding that everyone has their personal experiences was a great help. Also, speaking with tree surgeons was fascinating, showing how they respected the trees they cut down. Most of them are replanting, but some are just chipping them. That gave me an understanding of how I can appreciate them using symbols.
I split many logs and saw a lot of wood throughout FMP while trying to find “respectful” processes for handling wood. However, my research led me to believe that this felt no more respectful than using the lathe or a bandsaw, and I couldn’t achieve a refined finish with these methods. So, I decided that simply making something refined and polished for the deceased tree would be enough to show respect for that tree. Using a belt sander, too, to achieve a pretty finish. At the end of term 2, I used the lathe a decent amount so I could hone in on skills I had already learnt there.
