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Archive for the ‘collections’ Category

Blue Bottle River Blues

Posted in Absurd, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , on March 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A couple of weekends a go, I was doing my thing by the river and noticing that there were more plastic bottles and containers that had washed up than I was used to seeing.  And so, I started taking pictures of them.

For this post, I thought I would show you just the blue bottles I came across.  They are arranged from simplest to complex and form an evolution of sorts.  With its hour-glass, pinched waist form, the bottle above has a decidedly feminine presence.  I wonder if the product it originally contained was meant to appeal to women in some way?

The next step in the evolution of this form is the appearance of a handle.  Without their original labels, which came off in the river, I’m guessing that many of these plastic bottles originally held dishwashing or laundry soaps?

Here you can see that the handle has become a bit more “sophisticated” and goes just past the point of being strictly utilitarian.  And now for the next phase of our blue-bottle evolution.

Here’s one with a bit more of a design element.  By strategically placing a hole in the center of this bottle…it now has two handles!  What will they think of next?

To further appeal to consumers, creating figurative bottles that have nothing to do with how the product is dispensed is an effective strategy.  This seahorse bottle is fairly large and I’m going to guess it once held bubble bath solution?  I suppose it is also meant to be collectible?  On the same day I unfortunately found all these bottles, I also recorded others of various sizes, shapes, and colors.  Look for those images in my pages section soon!  I know you can’t wait for that one!!

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Snow Balls

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , on February 9, 2010| 2 Comments »

Over the weekend I went to the frigid Falls and was amused by all the balls I found that recently washed up during a period of high Ohio River water.  So, I photographed what I came across to add to my Balls of the Ohio Collection.  This is a subset that includes balls with snow on or around the white stuff.  As I write this, Louisville and the surrounding area is expecting more wintery weather tonight with accumulations of snow and ice.  It is, however, going to be nothing like the amounts that have already hit parts of the east coast! When I walk my familiar stretches of the riverbank, I hope that some day, I might eventually find something of value, but instead it’s stuff like this or worse!  For your pleasure, here are more balls that were washed, thrown, or kicked into the river to land at the Falls of the Ohio.

The first ball shown is a regulation size basketball in yellow and purple.  I think those are Los Angeles Laker colors?  I followed that with this rather small, but patriotic, flag-inspired ball I photographed with my hand over my heart!  I recall seeing tons of flag-inspired everything in the aftermath of September 11.  For three years after that event, I photographed many things I came across in Louisville bearing either an American flag design or inspired by the stars and bars.  I reasoned that my city was not that much different from what was happening in the rest of the country and was thus representative of the country at large.  It was an interesting experiment on how the meaning of something you think you know is changed by its context.

This golf-inspired, rubber, yellow ball is about the size of a baseball.  Over the years, I have found several spheres of this exact type.

This Spider-Man ball was the most colorful ball that I have found in a while.  Judging from its condition, it must not have been in the river very long.  The image above is one side of this ball…here’s its opposite side.  Makes me want to break out in song…”Spider-man, Spider-man, does whatever a spider can…”

This was a bit of an oddity, I found a couple balls with numbers on them.  I think this was inspired by the lottery or bingo?  Number 6 anyone?

We’re Number #1… we’re #1, here’s a soft cloth ball for baby.  At first I thought this was a hacky-sack, but realized upon approach, it’s too big.

Lastly, I came across this regulation sized football in the process of washing up on shore.  Although it doesn’t have snow on it, I did find it at the same time I came across these other balls.  It was only after I got home and downloaded my pictures, did I see that there is hand writing on this pigskin.  When I go back to the river, I’m going to try to find this ball again.  It might have an interesting message written on it that will offer a clue to where it originally came from.  Until next time…

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Snow Tested, Squirrel Approved

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , on February 7, 2010| 1 Comment »

On a very chilly day and after a snow storm, I was able to visit the Falls and take stock of the happenings.  The snow came quickly and from an eastern direction.  You can see that from the trees where snow built up on one side leaving the opposite side clean.  As I had suspected, the rising river from the previous week had played havoc on my trusty studio site.  It took me awhile to recognize where that spot had been.  I will have to wait until after the snow leaves to determine if any of the materials I had stored there are still in the area.  As for the sculptures I had left to weather in place…

… they are still there, but disarticulated.  The rising water level with its floating logs and driftwood, knocked everything down, and carried parts of my work, back out into the river.  The image above is what remains of Pot Belly, a large work from several posts ago.  I found his head, but he was missing all of his features.  His partner, Lorraine, was near him, but had suffered the same fate.  Further down the park, I came across Penguin Boy (sans life-jacket and head) and what was left of the uncle figure.  By now, I am over any sense of loss.  I will miss coming to that particular spot under the willows, but I know I will make other make-shift studios and they too will wash away.  As for the large pieces of Styrofoam that are still around, I probably will recycle those into other sculptures provided they stay.  This time of year and early spring are usually when we get the high waters.  With all the snow that has fallen (even more is scheduled in a couple of days) the resulting melt water will overwhelm this part of the park again.  Perhaps it will flood several more times, who knows?  This is all just a part of the process.

Making things is the best antidote in a situation like this.  I might be temporarily rootless, but my need to make images from objects remains strong.  I tell myself that coming out here, especially on such an inhospitable day is a sure sign of dedication and commitment to my art.  Perhaps it is, but who really cares except me?  When you strip it down, it has more to do with my own needs than anything else.  I muse about this blog being a vicarious way for me to recall some of my work.  Anyway, laid out on a snowy log are the materials I found to make that day’s figure.  By this time, my finger tips are numb which makes handling small objects more difficult.  While I am fumbling away, this squirrel is watching me as I work and I’m having a regular conversation with it.  I ask how the winter is going and apologize for not bringing any food with me among other topics of mutual interest.

With the added distraction from the squirrel, here’s what I came up with on this day.  Finding the star wand was my big find along the riverbank and I incorporated it with the figure.  I’ll let that object add to any sense of a narrative that an observer might care to construct.  I was too cold to care about matters like that!

I left the figure near the Interpretive Center, but kept the wand.  Believe it or not, I have a collection going of found and mostly bubble wands and this adds some depth to that collection!  I should assemble that for a photograph and post it.  As I left the park, I did take one more image from the Indiana side of the Ohio River.  Past the railroad bridge, a portion of Louisville’s modest skyline can be seen.   Stay warm and dry everybody!

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F and J, part two

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , on February 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

For me, the toughest part of the winter is getting through all the grayness.  Spring is a month and a half away.  Thanks a lot groundhog.  Family and work  obligations coupled with the crummy weather are keeping me closer to home than usual.

When I look at my Falls images from this winter, the park has an almost exhausted feel to it.  The river spent itself washing wood and our material culture upon this shoreline.  The large object my son named “The Plug from the Bottom of the River” has been around for months…but I love the sense of theatre it presents in this landscape! What is this thing really and what is it doing here?  Before it disappears in the next flood, I should stage some Styro-spectacle on it.

The parade of found river objects will never cease.  I tell myself that I should use this time to organize all the loose ends (objects and images) that an investigation of this scope produces.  Of late, I have had a few more inquiries about presenting aspects of this project in one form or another.  It all sounds good, but I know some things are presented more as trial balloons, but that’s also a part of the creative process.  It’s about stuff bumping into each other and seeing what connections are created.  The last time I was out to the river I stopped by and photographed some earlier works from last year.  For the most part, I think they hold up fairly well considering their construction as well as many of the parts used are ephemeral.

In a world where we all live speeded up lives, it is easy to forget that we also need a chance to be fallow.  That’s what winter is best for…incubating ideas and marshalling energy.  I may have to go down into my basement and take care of business there.  The physical evidence of this project is spilling out of bags and boxes.  I think I may be able to substitute my wish to go outside with rediscovering and reorganizing what I have already found.  There’s sure to be a few gems hidden among that driftwood.  Well, I’m telling myself that…until the sun shines again!

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Flotsam and Jetsam, part one

Posted in Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , , on January 31, 2010| 4 Comments »

It snowed today, it’s cold, and the river is rising.  I’m imagining that my studio site is in danger of getting swamped.  In all the years I have done this project,  I have only once been present at the moment the river carried my work away.  It was wierd watching the water inch slowly but surly towards my feet.  I had a couple of Styrofoam figures that the river just gently lifted away.  It looks like I won’t be making it to the river this weekend and so I put together a few recent and related images to present to you.  It’s all just river stuff I came across at the Falls of the Ohio.  I especially like the image of the log set on its end.

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Line in Nature

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , on December 10, 2009| 2 Comments »

I remember how one drawing instructor I had at the university used to say that “…line does not exist in nature”.  I think about that statement every time I come across one of these tangles of fishing line.  They always catch my eye and on occasion I have photographed them.  It is true that line is a convention in drawing (one of the basic elements of art) used to symbolically translate a three-dimensional reality onto a two-dimensional surface.  Out here on the riverbank, the contour edges on fishing line are so close together that they become less abstract,  symbolic device as they merge and become line as object.

Fishing line comes in just about every color now.  I recently came upon this green line sort of informally gathered around these willow sprigs. In this picture,  I like the way the green compliments the reddish-brown of the trees and conveys an airy and lyrical feeling.  That’s also what I enjoy about “line” as a drawing element…it has the power to suggest emotion.

And now for a wad of red fishing line just thrown down upon the limestone bedrock.  Yes, if you are a fisherman, you are familiar with how “line” can convey emotion in the three-dimensional world.  Few things are as frustrating as having the line on your pole foul up or get snagged in a tree or an unseen obstruction underwater!  Still, it’s no excuse to discard your waste line so casually as though all of nature were your personal landfill.  Roll up what can’t be used and take it out of the park with you.

This has to be one of the champion examples of fisherman frustration at the Falls!  The discarded pack of cigarettes helps give it a needed sense of scale.  There is a lot going on in this tangle and includes a bit of frayed barge cable in addition to several types of monofilament.  This was photographed when the water was low and the roots of this tree were not hidden by the river.  Currents do play a part in helping to ensnare fishing line.  In this case, several lines have come together and coalesced into a mass.  You can say that this form has metastasized and will keep getting larger and become an even bigger fishing line trap.  If you could tease this thing apart and lay it down straight…I wonder how long it would be?

The other day I was working on images to use for my holiday cards.  One of the ideas I have been exploring involves these ornaments I have made with found, Falls of the Ohio junk.  I came across this tree hanging over the water that already had a few “decorations” on it and placed my ornament into this ready-made composition.  If you look closely, you can see there is just enough fishing line tangled up here to add a subtle sense of movement.

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Fishing on the Rocks

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, birding, birds and birding, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , on December 3, 2009| 2 Comments »

The river is low and clear and fisherman have been testing their luck at the Falls of the Ohio.  It’s one of those situations where even if the fish aren’t biting, it’s still wonderful to be out in nature.  Sightseers have been moving along the riverbank and on this occasion I have come across other sculptures that while they aren’t mine…may have been inspired by what I do out here? 

Visitors have “recycled” one of my old pieces and made this work that I call “Jack Daniels” based on the empty whiskey bottle stuck in the sand by its feet!  It’s a decidedly tipsy work and seems to sport what I think may be an improvised ice pack on its head.  The turned-wood cane steadies the piece and provides much-needed support.  Perhaps the same person or persons did this other sculpture near “Jack”?  It may be either a robot constructed from stacked rocks or maybe an image of a small television with antennae balanced on stacked rocks?  It doesn’t really matter.  I responded to the sight and added it to my collection of images of “Other People’s Art Made at the Falls”.  Over the years, I have also collected pictures of what other folks have made and left with materials indigenous to this area.  Actually, I’m surprised that I don’t come across more of the stacked rock works since that seems like such a universal human thing to do.

Appearing with more regularity are the Ring-billed Gulls that move into our area once the weather begins to cool.  I observed a large flock with their distinctive white dot on black wing tips flying above me in a slowly circling ball.  Maybe they were getting their bearings on their way to other areas? Anyway, a few stray birds peeled away from the drifting flock and remained in the immediate area.  I photographed this juvenile Ring-billed Gull standing in shallow water near a small Styro-fisherman I had constructed.

When I come out here, I try to make something from the debris I come across.  I usually always feel better about life in general when I’m engaged in creating an artwork.  Here’s the fisherman figure I made on this day.  He is standing on beaver-chewed willow legs as is the pole he holds.

Although I have made many fishing figures over the years, this one was inspired by that day’s finds.  Walking the riverbank, I assembled a small collection of soft-bodied jigs lost by real fisherman.  The river works them loose from wherever they are snagged and beaches them lead-head and all.  The curving tails are intended to flutter through the water once they are reeled in.  It’s an effective movement that fish find hard to resist.

I selected the one that looks like a blue minnow and because it also had a nice length of monofilament attached to it… added it to my work.  I carried the piece along the shoreline and photographed it by the water.  I drew a few quizzical looks and even a laugh or two from real fishermen!

Here’s another image that shows the figure in the context of the larger landscape.  The old railroad bridge in the background has become such a presence in so many of my photographs.  Until next time…

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Late November Finds

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , on November 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Just to help pad a month of posts shortchanged by computer woes…I’m publishing some recent finds of mine at the Falls of the Ohio.  I found these objects (and more) the last three times I visited the river across the way from Louisville.  Something about the lay of the land and the prevailing currents push all sorts of floating stuff onto the park’s shoreline.  I found the colorful gourd above about two feet away from this neon yellow-green softball that was losing its cover.  Here are more recent gourd images.

First, here’s a round, variegated gourd…followed by a knobby, elongated, variegated, squash.  Perhaps they are Thanksgiving decorations?

Although it looks like it could be some kind of strange seed pod, the “laces” give it away.  It’s a novelty American football…with “French ticklers”?  Definitely, one of the oddest balls I’ve come across and worthy of being added to my “Balls of the Ohio Collection”.

I came across this tiny smiley-face ball lying face up in the sand.  Another tiny find was this toy hat.  I added a walnut to give you a sense of its scale.

I kept the hat and don’t be surprised if you see one of my Styrofoam figures wearing it someday.  A few months a go, I did a post about “sea life” in the Ohio River.  Well, I recently came across another candidate for that story.

The pincers on this sand toy crab pivot back and forth.  My last image is a flattened inner tube.  Usually, I find tires, but this believe it or not is a rarity.  The way it is just laying there all sphincter-like in the light, caught my eye.  I’m working on new categories of objects seen in the Falls context and I will include them here as they develop.

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The Shoes You Lose

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , on October 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

platform shoe

I’ve started another collection of images courtesy of you and the Ohio River.  Here’s the latest in found footwear located within the Falls of the Ohio State Park.  Although I have noticed lost shoes for years, I have only recently started taking pictures of them.  So, in many respects this represents the height of riverine fashions.  To see more, look under my “About” section on the right.  You might come across something you once wore on an outing to the beach.  My sons think their Mom will like this selection of images!

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Ohio River Sea Life

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

plastic octopus, sand toy

The inspiration for this post comes from a couple newspaper articles that appeared in the Courier-Journal a few years ago.  Seems somebody found a dead, but genuine octopus at the Falls of the Ohio!  Since our fair area is over a thousand miles away from the ocean and its salty water this was quite a discovery.   How did it get here?  On occassion one hears about other unexpected sea life (I’m thinking of sharks) that have been recorded swimming up rivers.  The octopus, however, is another matter.  In the follow up article to this story the truth of the situation was learned.  A young film enthusiast was making his own monster movie and had procured a dead octopus to use as a prop.  When he was finished with it, he left it to the elements where it was discovered by a passer-by.  Mystery solved.

plastic marlin

In honor of that discovery I thought I would present a few of my own finds from the Falls that carry the sea life theme along.  I regularly collect and photograph in situ the objects the Ohio River washes up at the park.  Here are six plastic toys I have come across.  You have already seen my octopus.  The yellow fish in the above image I think represents a marlin?

green plastic seahorse

Over the years I have found two seahorses.  This green one was discovered just recently, while the orange seahorse is from three years ago.  The fact that millions of years ago this place was a thriving marine ecosystem isn’t lost on me.  Potentially, this will happen again perhaps several times before the earth itself becomes history.

orange plastic seahorse

I have come across a couple of crustaceans as well!  The plastic lobster is a toy sand mold and appeared brightly against the driftwood.

plastic lobster

One of my personal favorites is the realistic red crab I found and photographed around sunset.  It is somewhat by chance that these things would appear here and that I would find them.  Makes me wonder about the other plastic sea life that I know I missed and continued on a journey to the ocean.  After several years of drifting with the currents, these items would find a new home in the ever growing plastic dead spots that are now a fact of today’s oceans. 

red plastic crab

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