Image: Kristin’s Centrepiece module hanging aloft at Collective 22.
By Josh Gibbon and Kristin Dalbrun
Kristin Dalbrun designed the spectacular centre piece of Collective 22. The piece spoke to death and life, living on the edge. Kristin shares below how the piece came to be and how she felt God speaking to her through it.
The design of the centrepiece called for a round frame that was big enough to fill the space but not overtake it. I needed something lightweight but sturdy. Finally, after a few floppy ideas, my light bulb moment happened.
In no time at all, my husband and I were disassembling this old trampoline in the backyard of a young woman who had posted it for free on marketplace to the first person willing to take it away. It had some life left in it as a trampoline, but I was mostly interested in its frame and structural integrity.
The young woman (who I have since become friends with) was a “young-at-heart” kind of person; a mom of three, who earns an income offering face painting for kids at parties and events. So, as you can imagine she was happy to see the bones of her children’s once loved toy carried out of her back yard to be given new life.
Imagine, this old worn-out trampoline destined for the tip, whose purpose was once grounded, offering children hours of jumping, flipping fun. Now reimagined and transformed, it became the centrepiece of the design for our Collective; floating overhead like a weightless but steady support, to a much needed and life-giving conversation about this unfamiliar “EDGE” we find ourselves at.
Maybe some saw a crown of thorns while others simply saw a circle of dead wood. For me, the real joy of this piece was not in the finished product, but the story it could tell. It delights me to think the centrepiece offered some lighthearted encouragement in our midst; perhaps the edge is only the beginning of something new, a playful process that requires trust in the Creator.”
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