You could say it all started with a pair of shoes -- the most minimal of shoes, made of woven straw -- in 1991. That's when Denver-based artist Viviane Le Courtois strapped the first pair on her feet and ventured off on a series of foot-treks around the world, creating art through the act of walking and slowly wearing down the handmade footwear in the process.
But Viv's shoes are only the start of the fascinating career that's ensued, as she's slowly created a body of work inspired by the repurposing of objects and the natural processes of growth and decay. Her new show, Edible?, which opened Thursday at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, retreads that route with a retrospective that culminates in a brand-new installation, The Garden of Earthly Delights, a living, growing indoor farm of edible plants. And starting today, the artist will be serving food grown in the installation on Saturdays throughout the show's run.
Following is just a taste of places where Viv's art experiments have taken us over the last twenty years.