Re:Fest Re:View (part 1)

By Sara Jo Johnson

ROOF?! ROOF?! Why yes! These folks joined ES at the (ReCENT) reFEST- held in Southern Pine Company’s courtyard… which unto itself is a truly magical place. Granted, its sprawling brick patio is 100% reclaimed- ooooh, the stories that those bricks could tell. And, of course, there’s the small former confectionery building that was recently saved from the wrecking ball and transplanted (wholly) in this courtyard. Let’s not digress further and mention the claw foot bathtubs that Willie and Savannah High students have transformed into thriving vegetable gardens… No siree bob, let’s stick to theme. [reFEST]

Where were we? Magical roofs? Yes. There must be some magical whoofing, roofing and bow wowing going around Savannah—because folks that participated in the (lively and silent) auctions, brought home dog “houses” that could be more aptly described as (a) choo choo train; a slanted roof condo. Or, as one reFESTER asked her husband:

“Wait. Why does Fido get a green roof or solar panel house and we don’t even have one yet?!”

Another pet owner was talking about her bid- and matter of factly said: oh I have cats, but they wouldn’t be allowed to touch it. I’m using it as a piece of furniture in my living room.”

This FUNdraiser benefited the Humane Society and Emergent Structure—and was originally spawned by SCAD sustainability student Charisse Bennett with much support from WellFed’s Rene Teran www.wellfedsavannah.com; Hosts Ramsey and Pamela Khalidi http://blog.southernpinecompany.com. There was also Dilated Spectrum, Wooden Sheep and Labor Ready pitching in.

Dogs in yellow vests were being led around by volunteers—doefully/coquetteishly trying to lock eyes with potential new owners. Some loud tears were shed by kids- demanding new pets to parents that weren’t budging.

Beyond coquettish canines [and slamming food and drum circles and live painting and boogying and art galleries and gospel music and and and] this festival was about REculture- and the myriad definitions that this term may evoke for each person.

Local organizations had booths. Let’s share our booth’s glamour shots.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What a makeover, huh? I believe magenta is her color. Our booth was a great vessel for us to simplistically say what Emergent Structures does in a nutshell. Amongst distractions like flirting dogs and wee architectural marvels…Some people have heard our organization’s name, but then equate us with whatever event or project comes to mind.

Examples: Emergent Structures?!
A. You guys sell nails, right?
B. Don’t you guys hang out with the Girl Scouts?
C. Somethin’ about art parties and fire pits…
D. People give you keys to their house and you take apart the walls?
E. All of the above?!

Mind you, these are all insightful possibilities. We now can add dogs and cats to the mix. So- considering the context: what’s the brief, heartfelt booth scoop? That doesn’t create an US and THEM, but just promotes the WE? Blathering on about reclamation and cradles and waste-is-food doesn’t necessarily work- but can backfire and bring on the effects of a lullaby.

So what? + what? = what? Let’s work backwards for giggles. The top example’s final outcome (equals) is a gorgeous wood floor. That wood floor came from…

1. a building that was going to be demolished;
2. volunteers harvesting the goods;
3. workers transporting the materials.

This, in essence, is another version of exclaiming the reclaiming: www.emergentstructures.org.

At REfest, we also joined forces with our booth neighbors—Dilated Spectrum http://dilatedspectrum.com— [yes, it was premediated] the on site small business screen printers. They wheeled out their t-shirt press–which greatly resembled an octopus. We decided to internalize ES’ reclamation spirit when considering festival tshirts; so we spent some time trolling for “reclaimed” or underused/no-longer-wanted tshirts. This idea was actually the brainchild of Kathleen Fritz, ES’ vp, who is presently on a Fulbright in India but due back soon. Check out her blog http://kfritztravels.com.

We had a festival t-shirt for $10 and new members could choose from 3 screen designs. New member Cooper Glenn was ogling the used Hong Kong rugby tshirt with nostalgia in his eyes. We cut him a deal: he could have it (for $10 and with a ReFEST design on the front). DS owners Charlie & Ben graciously ran our prints and mentored some board members—so we could attempt to be self-sufficient.

The graphic was created prior to seeing all of the wee houses and was meant to be tongue in cheek; now in retrospect, martinis and chandeliers pale in comparison to green roofs gardens, solar energy and kitty jacuzzi (okay, that last one was made up- just seeing if you stuck around).