CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois interdisciplinary artist Deke Weaver will create the multimedia performance “FOREST” over the next 18 months that will explore the forest ecosystem and the connections between plant and animal species. He’ll present the first iterations of “FOREST” at two upcoming events at Krannert Art Museum and at the Illinois Arboretum.
Weaver, a Guggenheim Fellow and an art professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is engaged in a lifelong project, “The Unreliable Bestiary,” to present a performance for every letter of the alphabet, each representing an endangered animal or habitat. “FOREST” — created by Weaver with Jennifer Allen, his wife and creative collaborator — is the first that is centered on a habitat rather than an animal.
Weaver said “FOREST” will comprise a series of events, culminating in a final performance in the fall of 2027. He said he was inspired to think of “FOREST” as a series of smaller events, all part of the process of creating the final, fuller performance, by the “Running Fence” work by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who built an 18-foot-high, 24.5-mile-long fence along the coast of northern California in the early 1970s. The project took years of obtaining permission from landowners and complying with regulations, and the artists made those efforts a part of the artwork.
Weaver said the series of “FOREST” events will allow him to try out material, get feedback and see what works best for the story. The first event, “FOREST: Stories in Progress,” is at 5:30 p.m. on April 2 at Krannert Art Museum. Weaver will read several pieces that include new writing for “FOREST,” as well as a story he wrote many years ago that was part of the groundwork of creating “The Unreliable Bestiary” project. The event is part of the exhibition “Another Place: Storymaking the Entangled Prairie,” which showcases work by faculty members in the School of Art and Design.
On May 1, Weaver plans to work with landscape architecture professor Brian Deal and other landscape architecture faculty members and students at the Arboretum. They will plant a large variety of species close together to create a dense area of vegetation, called a pocket forest. The process is designed to accelerate the growth of the plants and create a forest in a shorter amount of time, Weaver said. In an event he hopes will begin at sunrise, Weaver will lead a few activities and then the participants will form a procession with bells and drums to the area for the planting.
The project will include two main events in 2027. In the late spring, Weaver will work with students to build a rustic pavilion using deadfall gathered from the woods at Allerton Park. In the fall, the main performance will begin at the pocket forest and continue at the pavilion at Allerton Park.
Weaver’s performances are often in unusual settings, including forests, prairies, barns, homes, the U. of I. Stock Pavilion and sites along the Mississippi River.
The previous works in “The Unreliable Bestiary” — “MONKEY,” “ELEPHANT,” “WOLF,” “BEAR,” TIGER” and “CETACEAN (The Whale)” — dealt with climate change, failing ecosystems and resilience in adjusting to changing conditions. Weaver said his projects have become increasingly about the interconnectedness of animals, people, habitats and systems.
“Forests are whole series of systems and interconnections. It’s hard to even say they are individual species — they are all working together so carefully, it’s like a big organism of its own,” he said.
Editor’s notes: To contact Deke Weaver, email dekew@illinois.edu. More information about “The Unreliable Bestiary” is available online.
In addition to the School of Art and Design, Weaver has appointments in the theatre and dance departments and a faculty affiliation with the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies.
