The Hayes Valley Art Coalition is excited to announce the installation “Adaptations”, a sitespecific sculpture created by San Francisco artist Mark Baugh-Sasaki. The piece will be in place for approximately 6 months, and will be composed of wood collected from trimmings within San Francisco’s park system.

Come and celebrate Mark’s extraordinary talent at the installation site, Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley, on Friday July 24th from 6 – 7:30pm. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided courtesy of Marino Mexican and Seafood Restaurant, 579 Hayes St and Gaucho, a local Gypsy Jazz Trio.
Rendering: Andrew Klein

The following description of the artist’s work was lifted largely from the artist’s website, www.industrialforest.com:

When asked about nature, the response is often one of visual observations and aesthetic judgments. We don’t take into consideration that nature is more of a force or energy that surrounds all things. It is in the trees, rocks, and in ourselves. We often impose our own preconceptions of what nature should be, A Publication of The Hayes Valley Neighborhood Volume 09/Issue 04 Association | HVNA July-August 2009 attempting to control it and bend it to our will. In this attempt to control organic objects and the land we often destroy elements of the landscape.

These elements are discarded as waste with only the potential to decay. Yet their energy remains. It is not destroyed but rather transformed. When the artist creates a piece, he uses materials that have gone through this transformation because there is that potential energy remaining inside of the materials.

There is still an element of interpretation that the artist asserts over the materials; but he uses the energy inside the materials to breathe new life into them as objects. The artist uses the juxtaposition of organic and industrial materials to demonstrate the relationship that he sees we have with the land. He does not want to tell people what to think, but rather make them more aware of their environment and connection to it.

For more information about Mark Baugh-Sasaki and his work, go to www.industrialforest.com.