User:SeoR/sandbox/amaptocare

amaptocare is a large-scale public arts and sponsored tree-planting project in Ballymun on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Commissioned by Breaking Ground on behalf of Dublin City Council's Ballymun Regeneration Limited, and developed by German conceptual artist Jochen Gerz, it involved planting semi-mature trees in each neighbourhood of Ballymun. Over 630 trees from a choice of 15 native species were sponsored and planted, each with a personal comment inscribed on a nearby metal lectern. It was the largest and longest-running of the arts projects funded as part of the 1 billion euro regeneration of Ballymun. Begun in 2003, the project formally ended in 2017 but one major element remains to be completed. Many welcomed the new trees and Arts critics commented on the positive engagement of the project but there were also questions about the mandatory sponsorship element.

Origins
As part of the Ballymun Renewal Scheme, a percent for art programme was deployed through the Breaking Ground arts organisation, under the oversight of Dublin City Council's Ballymun Regeneration Limited. Breaking Ground sponsored a range of artworks, but also advertised by open call, in 2002, for a major project. Ultimately, two options were considered: a sculpture by American public artist Jeff Koons, whose works already commanded high prices but some of which were seen as "draws" or tourist attractions, or a particpatory public artwork by conceptual artist Jochen Gerz. Gerz, German-born, Paris-resident, and with dozens of public and participative art projects completed, had visited Ballymun in 2002, and noted the lack of trees, so he put tree planting at the centre of his project proposal.

The Gerz proposal was selected, and proceeded as the largest, and one of the two highest budget, Ballymun arts projects, with a budget described as exceeding 250,000 euro, and a duration from December 2003 to December 2017. It was commissioned in late 2003 by Aisling Prior, the director of Breaking Ground, who also acted as producer, and was named amaptocare, derived from "a map to care". The project manager, also working as producer, was Sheena Barrett. The artist moved with his wife to Sneem, County Kerry while overseeing amaptocare.

Promotion
From January 2004, the project advertised locally, inviting people to sponsor a tree. Ballymun residents and former residents were the primary targets but donations were accepted from others also. Most donations were individual but a few were declared for families, at least one for a community of nuns, and at least one for the band Aslan, with local connections. Fifteen native tree species were offered (oak, wild cherry, white willow, ash, London plane, evergreen oak, beech, copper beech, birch, lime, maple, cedar, rowan, Scots pine, Sophora japonica). The sponsorship donation ranged from 50 to 250 euro according to type, the most expensive being the evergreen oak. The idea was to plant semi-mature trees, not small saplings, and the sponsorship amount was about half the cost of sourcing and planting the tree, after discounted supply by the State forestry company, Coillte, the other half being covered by the scheme's promoters.

Operations
The project had offices in the Axis Arts and Community Centre in the civic complex in central Ballymun, and a staff, aside from the artist, of two full-time and several part-time employees, and support from Ballymun Regeneration and its arts advisors. Students from the National College of Art and Design and Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology interned on the project.

Phase 1 - Trees
In the first phase of the project, around 635 trees were sponsored, with oak and wild cherry the most-chosen, and just a few of the most costly, the evergreen oak, as well as maple, cedar and pine. Each sponsor was invited, over a period of 18 months, to a face-to-face meeting with the artist. At this meeting Gerz explored the concept of the project and worked with the sponsor to develop a short text answering the question "If this tree could speak, what would it say for me?" to be printed on a plaque or lectern by their chosen tree. Donors were also asked to choose in which neighbourhood of Ballymun the tree should be planted. The project reported that the choice of locations proved challenging, due to both the massive demolition and construction work ongoing across Ballymun, and to other, more routine, tree planting work.

The trees were planted on a wide range of streets between 2004 and 2006, by Coillte, Ballymun Regeneration and the city council, and the plaques installed adjacent to each, 32 cm from the ground. In the event of vandalism, of which there was a small initial wave, the lecterns were quickly replaced to maintain continuity, which the project believed led to an abatement in vandalism.

Phase 2 - Monument
The second phase of the project was to be the sandblasting of the names of donors into the granite surface of Ballymun's Civic Plaza, and the installation of a 24 metre x 24 metre panel map of the area, with the site of each tree illuminated. This was to be produced by Laurent Fachard, founder of Lyon's lighting specialist LEA studio. The second phase was delayed by discussions about Dublin's potential Metro link to Dublin Airport and by 2010, the artist expected to conclude by 2015 but as of 2017, the names on the plaza, and the map, were still pending. The artist commented in 2017 both "The Amaptocare work is not completed." and "I still hesitate to write that the work is abandoned." and stated that he was optimistic that the full project would be fulfilled, eventually.

Reception and criticism
Arts correspondents and artists commented: "Gerz has inversed [sic] the idea of imposed 'gifts' of social housing, institutional urbanism and cultural artefacts, which tends to view the residents as cultural and social recipients and contributes to the cycle of patriarchal bureaucracy, art for public places and ungrateful vandalism. Instead, Gerz invited the population of Ballymun to donate, to contribute by paying for their own environment."

"In this work, Gerz inverted the relationship between social welfare recipients and public sponsors ... residents of a suburb that for decades had only been a bad news story were now becoming sponsors, and as it were, narrators of their own history. .. Gerz calls its unsuspecting authors the 'new elites' .. The amaptocare project is characterized by its many layers, its polyphony, and also by atypical social cohesion. The outcome is a plural sculpture that has changed the atmosphere within the imposed rehousing scheme, which may explain why the donated trees have been less vandalized than others planted as part of the regeneration project."

and a local artist involved in the scheme, John Duffy, described it as "providing a space for the donor, offering a way in which they can make a mark for themselves." and referred to one sponsor's perception of the work as "the provision of a second chance for her life in Ballymun. With the physical and emotional changes that are happening to her life, she can mark them with her words on the lectern for her tree.", emphasising the "power of the project in the texts and the .. individuals and groups involved in the articulation of those words."

While describing the artist as an "impressive figure" and "tireless negotiator" the Irish Times reported in late 2004 that there was some adverse comment about the project. One criticism was about the requirement for a donation, but the artist explained that he wanted a feeling of ownership, as opposed to impersonal municipal planting. A research project by Peter Dowie on arts projects and the Ballymun schemes also received some negative commentary about amaptocare, even "community animosity", with one community development worker at the Ballymun Partnership describing it as "...an arrogant proposal .. an extremely ambitious project .. very expensive with no room for evaluation .. and impractical within an area going through regeneration.", an artistic director and activist referring to "patronisation of the community", and the researcher summarising some local reactions with: "The idea was that ownership of the tree would be both an inducement to, and a symbol of, their new commitment to caring for their area. Resentment toward the project stemmed from the fact it was perceived as patronizing and misunderstood the level at which residents had always demonstrated their ‘caring’ and sense of responsibility during 3 decades of civic neglect. The act of purchase also became a problem. It suggested further civic disrespect in charging residents living on social welfare for what would be given free in wealthier areas of Dublin", although in fact there was also municipally-fully funded tree planting during the area's regeneration.