The MuleArtwagon Project
August-October 2020
In 2013, I undertook a 7-month solo mule ride, traversing 1600 miles from Mississippi to Arizona. In 2020, with the generous support of the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Arts Foundation of Tucson and Southern Arizona, I retraced my route, this time in the “Mule Artwagon” - a small Ford Transit Connect cargo van converted to function as a live-work art studio set up for remote vodcasting. Expanding upon work I’d been doing from memories of movement through landscapes and levels of perception on muleback, and experimenting with creating portable art, I made paper and researched natural pigments as I traveled, live-streaming vodcasts. Despite the pandemic, there were frequent requests for paper- and paint-making demos at rural schools and centers. Many good people also gave their time to speak with me about their bonds with the land, often with deep spiritual conviction.
The memory of their words, the connections in space and time, the intense experience of moving from camp to camp, combined with technical experiments culminated in the studio installation "Threads," and a viewing day when stories were told.
The memory of their words, the connections in space and time, the intense experience of moving from camp to camp, combined with technical experiments culminated in the studio installation "Threads," and a viewing day when stories were told.
Snapshots from the "Art Wagon Return" project
All text and images (c) Katherine Cooper, all rights reserved.