Forgiveness - Douglas Rosenberg Art

photographs from douglas rosenberg's relational performance art work forgiveness, showing white envelopes from the performance labeled forgiveness, containing hyacinth seeds

The Forgiveness Project, 2010

The Forgiveness Project utilizes metaphors of planting and harvesting, reaping and sowing, and relies on community contribution to realize the labor/gift cycle of the work. It is a simple work that involves filling specially-made packets with a handful of hyacinth seeds to be given away during an exhibition. The hyacinth flower is historically the traditional flower of forgiveness. During the exhibition of the work, 10,000 seed packets were filled with the ‘seeds of forgiveness’ by participants. The forgiveness seed packets were made available in the museum for people to take as a gift in order to plant in their own gardens or to give away to others. An initial five thousand packets were filled by volunteers prior to the exhibition in a workspace where participants were asked to meditate on the idea of forgiveness while completing their labor.

photographs from douglas rosenberg's relational performance art work forgiveness, showing white envelopes from the performance being filled with hyacinth seeds by participants in the gallery

photographs from douglas rosenberg's relational performance art work forgiveness, showing the design on the back of the white envelopes labeled forgiveness

The Forgiveness Project has a live performative component. Community members volunteered for 30-60 minute shifts within the installation during the times that the museum was open to the public. The assigned task was to simply sit in the space and methodically fill seed packets, placing them in a pile behind the volunteer.

Volunteers were asked to meditate on the idea of forgiveness and how that resonated within their own lives. They were asked to work silently and without contact or acknowledgement of museum patrons and visitors. The packets they filled were immediately available for people to take from the space.

After filling three seed packets, Li Chiao-Ping tosses them onto the heap of filled packets already prepared by other volunteers. In mid-air the packets form the shape of a bird released from her hand.

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