Date Collected
Fall 11-15-2018
Place item was collected
On the USU campus, bus-stop on the west side of the Fieldhouse
Informant
Myself
Point of Discovery/Informant Bio
My name is Elizabeth Colton. I am nineteen years old, and I am an undergraduate student in my senior year at Utah State University, where I will graduate with a B.S. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. I was born and raised in Park City, Utah, where I still visit for holidays. I have also lived in Fremont, California. Like a lot of young adult residents of Utah who aren’t Mormon, I am spiritual, but not religious. I was homeschooled (just like my four siblings) for the entirety of my childhood, until enrolling Salt Lake Community College at fifteen. I have always placed an emphasis on learning and storytelling (whether through dancing, writing, speaking, music playing, or showing). As I was growing up, my parents had me learning multiple instruments (piano, guitar, drums, e-bass, and violin), and they put emphasis on creativity. I consider myself to be an artist through and through.
Context
I found this slap art on the USU campus on the bus-stop bench structure on the west side of the Fieldhouse building. I was walking from one class to another, and only had time to snap a quick photo with my phone. It was also freezing outside, so that’s another reason as to why I kept this process super short. It’s a relatively small sticker, and caught the corner of my eye by chance, which I’m grateful for because I find slap art to be fascinating. The entire process only took a few seconds.
Text
This art is a sticker of a thick-lined tree, and at the trunk there is what looks to be an eye. There also seems to be lines of excitement (used in cartoons) coming out of the top of the tree. It is made on typical slap-art sticker paper that is meant to stay through weather.
Texture
Running into this piece of art made me pause and smile, both of which are a little uncommon when it is freezing outside and I’m hustling from one class to another. There weren’t very many students around, only a few who were walking past rather quickly, so the moment wasn’t shared with anyone, and only my personal intrigue of slap art brought me to taking a closer look.
Course
ENGL 2210
Instructor
Dr. Lynne McNeill
Semester and year
Fall 2018
Theme
G8: Other Items of Material Folk Culture
EAD Number
11.0.10
Recommended Citation
Colton, Elizabeth, "Slap Art of the Tree" (2018). USU Student Folklore Fieldwork. Paper 482.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_folklore_all/482