They say everyone is a critic.
It's possible that whoever removed close to 40 scarves – each bearing hand-lettered quotations – knotted around trees in Bryant Park earlier this month thought they were removing some unsightly marring of the natural environment.
What they were doing, in fact, was disrupting and essentially demolishing a City of White Rock-sanctioned, and signed, interactive art display – Interknots – part of the ongoing Outside The Box festival celebrating fibre art, which includes displays throughout the city and South Surrey, including the adjacent White Rock Community Centre.
It was also theft, since the scarves, many of which were donated to the temporary installation, have not been returned. Artist Alicia Ballard (pictured left) said she has reported the theft – which took place on the night of Sept. 6 – to White Rock RCMP.
"I called (the installation) Interknots because I believe we are all 'interknotted,' interrelated, intertwined...we all depend on one another and our environment," said Ballard, who said the display also referred to the natural knots on the trees, and had invited others to participate by adding scarves.
A smaller-scale remount of the installation, with even larger signs, was placed in the park by Outside The Box organizers and supporters on Sept. 14.
Leisure Services director Eric Stepura said city workers had nothing to do with the removal of the scarves.
"We believe it may have been done by a nearby resident," he said.