The idea of building shanties is based a little bit on memories from my childhood. My dad was a roofer so there was always an abundance of tools, nails, and scrap wood. I was always building something...tree forts, coasters, bicycle jumps...I even had a phase where I built and installed wooden crosses all over the yard. It was a boys activity to pound nails and build things with your hands and it was also a great way to engage my imagination. Building these shanties is somewhat of a reminiscence for me and the smaller scale and proportion of these structures has again triggered my imagination. I have a feeling that, in the case of this installation, each structure will take on its own personality.
One of the cool things that happened when I was looking at the site were these patterns that I found on a fallen tree up the hill. I guess they are markings from some kind of worm or insect (below left) but it got me thinking about how I would approach "camouflaging" the shanties. I started with rubbings so I could record and study the patterns more closely and see what color would do to them. It turns out that I also had to consider the degree of camouflage I would aim for as my first attempts at mimicking these patterns worked too well and the form of the structure really disappeared. As I developed the surface treatment, I settled on the scheme below on the right as a compromise between form and surface.
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