The Basics

The Shoe Project is an investigative multimedia piece in Athens, Ohio. It focuses on a piece of Ohio University property bordered by Richland Avenue, South Shafer Street, and the Hocking River. Peden Stadium and the Convo are across the streets. Most of this land is open and grassy with a few trees scattered around. It has an often-used bike path. The Office of Sustainability is in a little log cabin on the corner where South Shafer and Richland meet. Many people use this space frequently and know about it. However, most are only passing by and few spend much time there.

Last term before break I was a passer-by. I was walking towards the Richland bridge when I noticed a tree with tons of shoes in it. I walked off the sidewalk to look at it closer. It had about ten pairs of shoes. As I walked around it I realized this tree was not alone. I noticed plenty of other shoe-covered trees nearby, many of them alongside the roads. I took some photos on my phone, Instagrammed it without much thought and went on my way.

These trees stayed on my mind. Not too many of my friends knew about the shoes. Nobody could pinpoint why those shoes were there, or how they got there in the first place. This term I decided to learn more about them.

I counted the trees with shoes and how many pairs there were. I collected some of these pairs using fallen branches and a bungee hook someone left on a tree. I exhibited the shoes I collected along with some of my photographs and writing. I spent a lot of time writing, not only to document what I was doing but also to work out what these trees mean to me. Everything is still convoluted. Shoes in trees have so many meanings it is impossible to come up with a single reason why they are there. I am not quite sure what these trees mean to me, or why I am inclined to devote so much time to them. While all of this has been immersive and fun for me, I have yet to piece together a story about how and why those shoes got there to begin with.

This blog is my next step. I want to find out more about these shoes, and I can't do it alone. If you have thrown your shoes in a tree before I want to hear why. Your shoes don't have to be in a tree on the land I am studying, but if they are that is excellent. Currently I am throwing the shoes back into the trees I got them from. It wouldn't be right to throw them away, and this project should just be a piece of their ongoing story. Now I have my own history with shoes in trees, and I am ready to piece it together with yours.