Katie Hargrave

Lincoln speeches, with all the duplicate words removed

2012-01-13T11:00:00.001-06:00

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we engaged great civil war, testing whether, or any so, can long endure. Met here on battlefield of. Have come portion it as final resting place those who gave their lives might live. Is altogether fitting proper should do.

But larger sense not - consecrate - hallow ground. brave, living dead, struggled,, consecrated far above poor power add detract. World will little note, nor remember, what say, never forget they did.

Us,, rather be unfinished work which, thus nobly carried. Task remaining before from these honored take increased devotion cause last full measure highly resolve shall died vain; birth freedom; government people, perish earth.

2011-08-16T09:20:00.000-05:00

2011-06-06T15:20:00.001-05:00

2011-06-06T15:02:00.001-05:00

Big River

2011-05-28T07:04:00.002-05:00

The news about the Mississippi River flooding has been, well, overflowing. I've been following it closely... the Iowa River floods, and everyone in town seems to be talking about the 500 year flood that happened in 2008, worried it will happen again. On top of that, I'm working on a project for Northern Spark, a one night festival happening in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The project I'm working on, Mississippi Megalops, is aboard a steamboat in St. Paul, on the Mississippi river.

My last of my infrequent posts on here showed the source image for this flag, a 1944 Army Corp of Engineers image of the various paths the lower Mississippi has taken over the centuries. It is an incredible image, and it was made in the wake of the Army Corp's work to create a flood plan for the Mississippi following the great flood of 1927. In that flood, the river was over 100 miles wide in parts (that's almost 1/2 the distance between Iowa City and Chicago, if you can imagine. I always thought it was incredible that this river is a mile wide in parts.

My interest in making this flag, a flag for a fictitious nation or state of the Mississippi River, came in part from listening to this incredible podcast with Lisa Brooks, who spoke about the place of rivers for Native Americans, at the center of territories instead of as borders. Imagine if I-80 was a border rather than a corridor....

2011-04-15T09:27:00.000-05:00

Sugar Shack: End of Phase 1

2011-04-05T11:18:00.004-05:00

The end of sugaring season came a few weeks ago. And this is what we have to show for it.

The spiles are worn, but will be able to be used again next year, and we ended up with 3 1/2 pints of walnut syrup. We also taught 20+ people how to tap. Now we're planning the next phase: sugar beet planting. Out at Walnut Farms, we hope to have a planting pancake breakfast, letting folks come and try walnut syrup in exchange for a bit of help laying in the rows of sugar beets.

Neither of us have planted SBs before, and we've heard they can get to be the size of a basketball. We're also planning on getting working on making the Sugar Shack livable/usable with a boil down stove, ventilation, storage for our materials, and a library. It'll be great, we hope.

Shadow States of States

2011-04-05T11:16:00.003-05:00

My MA show, Shadow States of States, is installed and ready to go. I sorta love and hate it right now, but either way, here is a photo of the best part.

Ebb and Flow

2011-03-01T11:01:00.003-06:00

After a week long lull, the sap is running again. I tapped five trees this morning. If you want to do your own tree, now is the time, at least Iowa City (and anywhere else that temps are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night). The season is already longer than last year.

Wanna know what that fine print says? Oh, just that in 2005, a mysterious syrup smell invaded Manhattan, leading some to cry "terrorism." In reality, it was a leak of fenugreek from a fake maple syrup manufacturing plant in NJ. It wafted across state lines making people think, "leggo my eggo." Terrorism and table syrup? Avoid it all and make your own.

Sugar Shack

2011-02-24T15:18:00.002-06:00

In the late 1830's Abolitionist David Lee Child began a sugar beet plantation in New England, attempting to create an alternative to slave-grown cane sugar. Since then, sugar has perhaps never left its place as a controversial product: high-fructose corn syrup, genetically modified crops, food safety and security, munitions production, anarchism, neo-colonialism, environmentalism, you name it. The history and the expectations of sweetness remain so ingrained in our culture and on our taste buds.

The politics of sugar production are fraught with slavery, environmental degradation, and negative health effects of industrial sweeteners. In a moment where high fructose corn syrup made with governmental subsidies is what we put on our pancakes, and with a history of DIY resistance, it made sense to learn how to tap trees and grow beets, in an attempt to create a model for sugar production and sustainability. In "Sugar Shack," a new project I am developing with UIowa Professor and friend David Dunlap, those expectations are challenged and history is played out through the production of two crops of sugar: sugar beet molasses and walnut, birch, bitternut syrup.

The sugar produced will not taste like white sugar purchased from the super market. Instead it will be earthy beet molasses or buttery syrup made from lesser known syrup producing trees. But perhaps we need to realize that what we are used to is not always best for us, best for the environment, and so forth.

We started tapping trees on his property--know as Walnut Farms-- and at my house. We've hosted a spile making workshop, a tour of Walnut Farms, and a sample boil down, resulting in 1/2 pint of syrup from one week production from ten trees. Not enough to feed an army, but enough to learn how to do it on your own.

Hopefully more about this evolving project will be posted here as time goes on, but I'm excited by the collaboration. We're building a sugar shack out of the materials from a tower he built on his property years and years ago, and he's weaving the history of his accidental farming into the historical narrative I'm fleshing out. So far, its super fun.

Sugaring Season

2011-02-15T09:23:00.002-06:00

We've been experiencing unseasonably warm weather here in Iowa, and that meant a rush to get some taps into trees and make syrup. Ten people came over on Sunday to learn how to carve spiles out of simple dowel rods or other scrap wood, and how to set up a home tapping system.

Here are some photos. My walnut out back has already, in two days produced almost a half gallon of sap! Hopefully much more to come...

Iowa Neo Mountaineers

2011-01-15T16:08:00.002-06:00

I have finally gotten around to putting the INM's work on my website.

We're starting to plan our new season, which will include any or all of the following:

Tours of abandoned railroad grades
Pipelines
Activist landmarks
High/Low ground (flood grounds)

If you're interested, I'll post more here as it develops, or as always, shoot me an email.

The Mythic Creature

2011-01-09T19:08:00.001-06:00

might as well be a griffin or a phoenix.

Trains of Thought

2011-01-05T10:17:00.002-06:00

Opening Friday at Detroit•Work, I'll have my piece "A Reenactment intended to connect the world" in the show "Trains of Thought."

The show runs through February 4th.

A New Year, a cold one.

2011-01-04T20:51:00.003-06:00

I'm ushering in 2011 with a cold. I was in Mexico on the beach eating popsicles with my family, only to come home to empty Iowa City with a cold. So it is movies and tea and bed for me. But with boredom come lists, more lists, and new years resolutions. Here are a few:

In 2009, my NY resolution was to bake all my own bread. With the exception of when Sara Black came to visit me and I freaked and bought a loaf, I succeeded.

PT and I also decided on a no pants 09, and we succeeded until February break, both failing on the same day and showing up to a meeting in matching outfits, without planning.

In 2010, my NY resolution was to make beans from dry instead of canned. I succeeded except when I had the Intermedia department over for a meeting and wanted to make hummus last minute.

In 2011, I resolve to a) make yogurt from scratch, b) read more books, watch less trashy TV on the internet, c) have more dinner parties (to that end, I'm taking the beet festival and Johnny Appleseed Bday party to heart and doing Iron Chef style dinner parties every month)

Do you resolve anything?

And a list.

I traveled to:
Philadelphia (a lot)
Spain (Murcia, Madrid, Cartagena)
Italy (Venice, Padua, Rome)
Switzerland (was that this year, yes?)
Portland, OR
Seattle
Western Mexico
and MO, KS, NM, AZ, CA, NV, WY, NE
three new states, three new countries, some art, and some other junk along the way.

Independent Company of Newburyport

2010-12-03T13:46:00.000-06:00

In progress.

tent

2010-11-24T21:49:00.002-06:00

i was looking at $29.95 tents today at target with my mom. i want to go camping. pls.

Mast Presevation Clause and White Pine Floor

2010-11-15T08:54:00.001-06:00

" ... for better providing and furnishing of Masts for our Royal Navy wee do hereby reserve to us . . . ALL trees of the diameter of 24 inches and upward at 12 inches from the ground, growing upon any soils or tracts of land within our said Province or Territory not heretofore granted to any private person. We . . . forbid all persons whatsoever from felling, cutting or destroying any such trees without the royal license from us . . . upon penalty of 100 pounds... for every such tree so felled... without such license had, etc. etc ...."

i cannot tell a lie

2010-10-18T08:11:00.000-05:00

my house smells like cherry pies. i cannot tell a lie.

Airport carpet samples

2010-10-03T10:24:00.002-05:00

I've already been asked today four times if I have good reading material. Currently at CID airport, my four books will hopefully get me through CID->ORD->PHL->Barcelona->Alicante and then two bus rides. Last night four books felt like a lot. Today, I'm already skeptical.

See you in a week, maybe.

Pimms summertime

2010-07-25T09:41:00.004-05:00

Been making Pimms cocktails for my summer afternoon and dusk enjoyment.

Best of all, making them with cukes from my(!) very(!) own(!) garden(!)!

Good thing I've got dozens of cucumbers getting ready.

A reason not to be an expert

2010-06-20T04:42:00.002-05:00

I am in Murcia, Spain right now, doing research for an upcoming biennial called Manifesta. The Action Mill is one of four groups of artists/people who do stuff in the "real" world that have "real" effects. The four groups were put in a set and filmed having a discussion about criticality in art production, questioning how it relates to changing destructive systems. It was a hard couple of days having interesting discussions, needless to say.

This is an image of the cathedral in Murcia, which has an incredible carved stone chain from the Baroque period (if it ain't baroque...don't...uugh). Once the artisan completed carving the chain, the patron had his eyes plucked out so that he would never be able to make another.

If that's a reason not to be good at anything, I don't know what is.

Lamplit

2010-06-20T04:38:00.000-05:00

Keith Lemley and Taryn McMahon

when am i going to get over my thoreau stage?

2010-05-25T07:28:00.003-05:00

listen (to a mostly complete draft of a pathetic love story) here.

Portland

2010-05-18T18:08:00.003-05:00

Yesterday it looked like this in Portland. Today, my feet won't get dry and I am cold cold cold. Pacific Northwest?