Cock A Doodle Do

Even if I could afford it, I wouldn't buy an oversized rooster sculpture like this one to cock up the yard. Dad humor aside, there was once a lion sculpture in our front yard, and we had to make a bit of an effort to convince the previous owner to take it away. It was far nicer than this chintzy rooster, too. As far as sculpture is concerned, my preference would be for something far more minimal. I'd consider a Serra, for example.

Hair of the Dog

This is what the Jeff Koons sculpture at Glenstone looks like in the Winter. It is my preferred time of the year to view the piece, as after seeing it so many times, I am now mostly interested in the armatures and engineering aspects. A Dusseldorf School approach, kinda sorta.

Anyway, hope your weekend is filled with good light, fellow traveler.

Some people touch it but they can’t hold on

The more I sit with the images I got at Glenstone, the more I like this particular shot. As far as a static photograph is concerned, perhaps this is as close as I will come to conveying my sense of disequilibrium walking through the piece. I think the black and white is a good choice and the composition is solid. To go further, though, I may need to think about incorporating motion. Over the years, I’ve played with all the usual ways of dealing with motion in a single photograph, but maybe what I need to do right now is dive into video. After all, for some time now, modern phones, and digital cameras in general, have been well set up for this. Of course, I’ve played around with video; it ain’t rocket science. My super slow motion video of ice tea being poured into a glass is a classic around here. 

The voluminous landscape

We were lucky to get tickets to Glenstone, and spent a great day there the other day. It was hot and humid, enough to regret not wearing shorts, but not bad enough to induce fainting. I enjoyed myself among the sculpture, as I always do, and had a few successes and failures on the photographic front. The photograph above shows a black and white version of Richard Serra’s ‘Contour’ in the landscape, and this perspective was one of my favorites. I was able to come to some level of understanding of how the piece works in the landscape and got some nice images. On the other hand, I struggled with ‘Sylvester’, the other Serra sculpture at Glenstone. Walking through the maze-like structure was disorienting — and that is part of the intent. But none of my photographs really communicated much about the experience and that was certainly a bit disappointing. Luckily, we are returning in September.

The push and pull of sculpture and photography

This garden lantern caught my eye at a recent estate sale. I have to admit that I find these ornamental pieces captivating and wouldn't mind having one in my yard. It's already older than I am with an awesome patina of mold, and lichen. I've been reading about sculptors, like Brancusi, who use photography as part of their practice. I totally get it, and am looking forward to a visit to Glenstone in the not too distant future. At any rate, two things prevented me from pulling the trigger on this lovely lantern. For one, the price was a little too high, and for another, it was too damn heavy. So, instead of owning it outright, I decided to photograph it. Although at this stage, it is a sketchbook kind of image, I'm still quite pleased with the composition. 

Harmonious composition

After a couple of weeks during which it has rained most days, it was nice to have a few hours respite yesterday. The cicadas are still plentiful, but are past their peak. I’m ready for them to leave the scene! It was a beautiful morning and these sculptures made for a pleasant composition in the landscape. It is a good reminder that the man-made and natural environments can exist in harmony. I tried to make the digital file look a little like IR film to lighten the foliage and darken the tree trunk. I’m pleased with the result in this case.

Sculpture and photography

I think sculpture and photography are closely related pursuits. So, I was delighted to linger when I came across this sculptural ensemble in an underpass. The light was mixed, a combination of ambient and artificial sources. Although the color version of the photograph looks just fine, the subject does better in black and white, I think. Young sculptors probably dream of having their work installed in a beautiful sculpture garden or in front of a famous building. I can’t help wondering what this artist thought of being commissioned to make public art for an underpass? It looks like it was enjoyable to make, regardless.