Monday, February 16, 2004
Last spring, on a whim, Frank and I borrowed Zach's volvo and headed North to Stormking Art Center. The weather had been rotten for months, but we were hoping to catch the first spring day. We were in luck.
Despite the volvo breaking down, getting slightly lost, having to rent a car, having to hitch a ride in the tow truck to a car rental place, having to hitch a ride with the car rental place to another car rental place that had cars for rent, the dog peeing on the way to the second car rental place and then the dog having to stay in the car while we cavorted around the immense grounds virtually alone on the perfect spring day, despite all that, it was great.
After being caged up working on bizar and seemingly aimless projects all winter long in the city, the weather, the scenery and fresh air were ambrosia to our minds and bodies.
Stormking itself is a marvel of monumental sculpture and creative landscaping.
Much of the art comes directly from minimalism or the awkward stage just after the fall of modernism when content was just creeping back into art. They have plenty of space though and are installing new work all the time.
One thing that really strikes a person here is the scale of the grounds. From the photos and really even being there it's hard to sense how big and how far away things are. The rown of trees stretches much further than you'd expect and because the photo is taken from the top of a hill they trees themselves are much larger than they seem. It's a shock to your senses when you walk down the hill and find the trees much further away than you expected and then when you reach the trees they tower above you. Not to mention the gigantic sculpture inoccently perched in the far far distant right.
Because it really was the warmest day so far that spring, there were no leaves on the trees and you could tell that there was snow on the grounds very recently.
Andy Goldsworthy is the man. Here's his "Running Wall" installed on the far edge of the Art Center. It runs through the trees down a hill and into a pond. It reappears on the opposite side of the pond and runs across the highway.
Despite the volvo breaking down, getting slightly lost, having to rent a car, having to hitch a ride in the tow truck to a car rental place, having to hitch a ride with the car rental place to another car rental place that had cars for rent, the dog peeing on the way to the second car rental place and then the dog having to stay in the car while we cavorted around the immense grounds virtually alone on the perfect spring day, despite all that, it was great.
After being caged up working on bizar and seemingly aimless projects all winter long in the city, the weather, the scenery and fresh air were ambrosia to our minds and bodies.
Stormking itself is a marvel of monumental sculpture and creative landscaping.
Much of the art comes directly from minimalism or the awkward stage just after the fall of modernism when content was just creeping back into art. They have plenty of space though and are installing new work all the time.
One thing that really strikes a person here is the scale of the grounds. From the photos and really even being there it's hard to sense how big and how far away things are. The rown of trees stretches much further than you'd expect and because the photo is taken from the top of a hill they trees themselves are much larger than they seem. It's a shock to your senses when you walk down the hill and find the trees much further away than you expected and then when you reach the trees they tower above you. Not to mention the gigantic sculpture inoccently perched in the far far distant right.
Because it really was the warmest day so far that spring, there were no leaves on the trees and you could tell that there was snow on the grounds very recently.
Andy Goldsworthy is the man. Here's his "Running Wall" installed on the far edge of the Art Center. It runs through the trees down a hill and into a pond. It reappears on the opposite side of the pond and runs across the highway.
