While I was in Newfoundland, ET, John, Andy, and the rest of the crew were making a full size mockup of the three-stone piece that will soon be installed on Hogpen Hill. The “inflatable stones,” as ET refers to them, are made from steel frames sheathed in plastic shrink-wrap. Yesterday the mockup took flight, with the aid of the excavator bucket, around the field seeking a site for the permanent installation.
Read MoreGetting to work with skilled professionals under the direction of an artist who takes great joy in the making of things is pure delight for me. This week I was again on Hogpen Hill with Edward Tufte creating monumental lithic assemblages. From time to time, over the past year, I’ve gone to western Connecticut to collaborate with my stone-loving colleague. With each session, we’ve explored new ways to combine large stones with the landscape. The stones are dug up from just under the surface of the ground near the assembly points. Each “foundling” is a gift of unique shape and texture bringing with it another possibility for construction.
Read MoreEdward Tufte and the crew at Hogpen Hill Farms stayed busy on the land while I was away in Newfoundland and Oregon. An exciting collection of stones greeted me on arrival this past Monday. Edward’s sketches illustrated the direction he wished to move the work. Frank, Rob, Tom and I got right into it, constructing an 14’ high A-frame shaped piece. By Wednesday we were back on the ridgeline connecting the network of dolmens built earlier in the summer with high cross-members. A three-stone colossus now frames a dramatic view of the extended works.
Read MoreIt was excavator ballet at Hogpen Hill Farms this week. I had four machines at my disposal for the assembly of stone structures. Under Edward Tufte’s direction, the polite march of table tops created during previous sessions evolved into a stagger of dolmens. The new pieces, inspired by ancient lithic structures, progressed south along a wooded ridge-line in combinations of two, three and four stones.
Read MoreAnother dry stone landform has begun to take shape at Hogpen Hill Farms. Three dozen “tables” have been assembled along one of the long ribs that constitute the high ground in the woodland park. The directive by Edward Tufte for this piece is to create the illusion of stones floating along the ridge top when viewed from the low ground along each side of the rib, and to establish a strong linear pattern from the bird’s eye view.
Read MoreThe zig-zag wall at Hogpen Farms has taken its final turn. Five entrance/exit ramps provide communication with the elevated wall top. A path, wide enough for a person and a dog to pass each other along its length, weaves its way across a forest glade.
Read MoreBlustery winds carried a host of folks into ET Modern Gallery for my presentation, ‘Stone and Art in Nature’ on Saturday. So many of them were old friends that it felt more like a party than a slide show. Edward Tufte’s Chelsea gallery is a fantastic venue for informal get-togethers. His latest sculpture series, “All Possible Photons”, shimmers and shadow-dances on the walls.
Read MoreAnother spurt of mild weather found me back in Connecticut for more work on Hogpen Hill. Chuck, Jared, Matt and Brian joined me in continuing the walling events begun on the previous visit, three weeks ago, and in starting something new. Edward Tufte’s thinking about what he’d like done on his land evolves as the work progresses. Derelict portions of old agricultural fence are being removed and replaced with dry stone features that introduce new elements of light and shadow to their lengths. The traditional concept of a wall creating a barrier between spaces is turned inside out.
Read MoreAn unexpected weather-window opened up this week allowing Chuck, Jared and I to begin work on a new project. A wooded mountaintop plateau in western Connecticut is the site of an art and nature park being created by Edward Tufte. His monumental sculptures already grace the open meadows at the south end of the property. Now, a series of new dry stone walls has begun to appear along the north end of the mountain spine. Edward and I co-direct the design and layout. A team of DSWA certified craftsmen build the walls and feature pieces.
Read MorePoet Wendell Berry advises those who practice his craft to “make poems that don’t disturb the silence from which they come.” The same suggestion could be made to the builders of environmental art because their work is often performed in places that are already perfectly at peace. Creators of outdoor art risk disturbing an existing balance when they go to work on the land. Artists in the environment might achieve their finest work by doing nothing more than pointing out the facts of what is already there. But then again, that may be work best left to poets.
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