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On Plastic River

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, material culture, Photograpy, plastic, Plastic art, public art, recycled art, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, watershed, tagged Art, art in nature, artist at exit 0, assemblage art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, nature, photography, plastic, plastic recycling, process art, public art, repurposed art, sense of place, site specific art, the golden hour, the plastic issue on February 23, 2016| 7 Comments »

Last Saturday was a nearly 70 degree day and the sun was shining. I couldn’t wait to get to the Falls of the Ohio to do a little exploring and maybe make something. I was totally surprised to find that the Ohio River was up again despite our area not receiving much in the way of rain during the week. The warmer temperatures must be melting what snow is still on the ground in the upstream sections of the Ohio River Valley? That’s my theory and for the moment I will stick with that. As with the previous weekend, the areas in the park that I more routinely work in were all underwater. So, like the previous weekend I hiked out to the western section of the park where the riverbank is higher. Honestly, I didn’t expect to find much out here since I picked up a lot of waste plastic to make my last rainbow arrangement. Boy was I wrong. Waiting for me along the waterline was a “fresh” selection of polyvinyl chloride for the picking. Perhaps because for the moment I have been fixated artistically with this material, but to my eye it seems our “plastic problem” is getting worse.

In quick order I was able to stuff the two collecting bags I brought with me to capacity as well as fill a found plastic toboggan with even more plastic. That was just the start.

I could have kept going and going, but soon realized that I was also running out of light. I chided myself under my breath for getting a late start on this day. I had other home duties that needed my attention. If I was going to do anything with this latest batch of plastic finds it had better be soon. I had also intended to check out the project I had made the previous week, but it was further down the riverbank. Once I got going on this assemblage, I forgot all about that earlier piece. It was now a race against the quickly setting sun.

I dragged all the plastic junk I had collected to a place on the riverbank that I thought had pictorial possibilities. I then sorted this mess into various color groups. Using the two plastic milk crates I had found and a wooden plank I created a shelf-like surface that was fairly level where I could arrange my latest collection of finds.

Here’s a process photo of my piece about half way through along with my shadow. This plastic arrangement was situated in a space between the high riverbank and a large log that floated into position here last year. And now for some “finished” views.

I finished laying the last piece of plastic down just in time for the “Golden Hour” when for a brief moment the light has this incredible color. This time of day reminds me of some of Maxfield Parrish’s paintings who must have also been fond of this effect of light. Here are a few details of the junk I used for my arrangement.

In the green section you can see the Tug Boat that I found on my last trip. This time I picked it up and carried it with me and incorporated it into this piece. Other notable finds include a light orange, Winnie the Pooh, “Tigger” character head that was used for collecting candy on Halloween night. That’s a little different from the usual jack-o-lantern head. I also found a bright red plastic fish that is also a sand mold for child’s play. The majority, however, are bottles for detergents and various petroleum products.

Soon, the light begins to fade. In this shot you can get a better sense of why I selected this location. My arrangement is protected by these wonderful tree roots that add a bit of animation to the scene. What you can also see is that the tree to the left doesn’t have long to stand before the river and erosion will change this part of the riverbank and knock this tree down.

The sun was setting and I had a long walk ahead of me and after basking in a bit of color it was time to call it a day. On the walk back to my vehicle, I wondered what I was getting out of this activity? As an exercise in building an awareness of the plastic issue…well, by this point everybody who cares to know does. And the folks that would prefer this to be out of sight and out of mind, well, there is that too and you wonder what it would take to convince anyone of the urgency of this problem? I went through several rationales, but it wasn’t until I got home and downloaded my pictures to my computer that I decided there was something in the perverse beauty of man who stands in contrast to the rest of nature that I find compelling. I will muse on this for a while, but for now…so long from the Falls of the Ohio.

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On the Trail of the Red-eyed Tortoise

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, fresh water, material culture, Ohio River, photography, plastic, recycled art, repurposed art, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, Ekostory, Falls of the Ohio State Park, found materials, found objects, material culture, nature, nature story, plastic bottles, rare tortoise, rising river, sense of place, site specific art, Styrofoam on February 14, 2016| 7 Comments »

Imagine my surprise to return to the same spot I had been working at last week…only to find it underwater! Such was the case on my latest foray to the Falls of the Ohio State Park. In the week since I was last here, we did experience one day where it pretty much rained all day long. Still, in my experience, the intensity of that storm would not account for all the high water I was seeing during this visit. Flooding in February is commonplace, but also usually tied to snow melt in the upper Ohio River Valley. Perhaps what I was seeing was a combination of heavy rains upriver from Louisville and snow melt? Regardless, this required a change in plans in the field. I decided to go where nature would allow me to go. In this case, high, dry land was to be found in the western section of the park. I had to walk widely around the edge of a rising river, but this interstitial zone between wet and dry is often a very interesting place to explore.

Among today’s discoveries includes this green plastic, tug boat that floated in with the high water. This, however, was not the only transportation related toy that I found on my walk. Here is something else that I came across.

It’s missing two wheels, but this plastic toy car may have given a Barbie-sized doll a ride once upon a time. How long had this piece of plastic been floating in the river? I like to go down to the river’s edge because this is such a dynamic place. You never know what might be washing ashore while you are there! Soon I reached an area that was crisscrossed by downed trees and logs that had floated in which forced me away from the water and higher up on the riverbank. That’s when I made another significant discovery.

As I was walking, I heard the distinctive sound of leaves rustling on the ground and I knew an animal was nearby. I followed the sound to its source and came upon a very rare creature that appeared to be exiting an abandoned groundhog’s burrow. I took a couple of quick photos and backed off. This proved to be a good move since my actions did not necessitate a full-scale retreat back into the hole it was emerging from. Hiding behind a tree, I let the tortoise take its sweet time as it fully came to the surface. I was practically holding my breath the entire time and for good reason. It’s not everyday that you get the opportunity to photograph and study one of the world’s rarest reptiles…the Red-eyed Tortoise (Gopherus helmeti).

The Red-eyed Tortoise was first discovered by naturalists early in the 19th century. The Falls of the Ohio (and on the Indiana side of the Ohio River) is the southernmost point of this uncommon creature’s range. Perhaps they were never plentiful to begin with? Everything I was witnessing about this tortoise seemed to suggest that it is not only slow, but likes to take its time. If this animal had a motto it would be something like, “Hey, what’s the big hurry”?

I watched as the tortoise very deliberately walked to the water’s edge. What I knew from books about this reptile was that it is omnivorous, but if it is hungry for live food than positioning itself near a rising river driving small animals up the bank would increase the chances of successfully catching a meal. Unfortunately, I did not witness anything so dramatic. In fact, during my time in the presence of this tortoise…I did not see it eat or drink at all.

The tortoise lingered at the edge of the river for a while. It very deliberately examined the driftwood. Perhaps this was part of its hunting strategy? There was something I was very curious about and it had to do with the temperature. Most reptiles are cold-blooded and require the sun’s energy to warm them up. Was this also true for this tortoise? Although it was warmer today, it was still far from spring-like temperatures and so how was this reptile able to deal with the coolness? The secret resides in its unique shell design and composition. During the colder days, the tortoise’s carapace is made from a hard, foam-like material that not only protects it from blows, but also insulates and retains what heat this animal is able to generate. In the warmer weather months, special vents in the carapace do the reverse and provide cooling ports that keep the tortoise from overheating.

I did catch one other puzzling behavior and it was in connection with a cache of river-born plastic bottles that had accumulated next to a large, downed log. The tortoise appeared to initially be interested in them, but one sniff had our hard-shelled friend reacting adversely and it moved as quickly as it could away from that area. I did not personally check out these plastic bottles, but I theorized that one of them was probably still carrying its toxic, noxious contents that the tortoise picked up on? Regardless, it did beat a retreat away from the river and I followed from a respectful distance.

The last view I had of the Red-eyed Tortoise had it going head-first back down into its winter burrow. There was a brief “flurry” of legs as dirt and leaves were used by the tortoise to seal the hole back up. I made a mental note of the area where this burrow is located, but also realized that with the advent of warmer weather…this whole section of woods would transform in practically unrecognizable ways. Perhaps this is for the best because even with the purest of intentions, I would not want any undo harm to come to it by drawing unnecessary attention to it. I would be very selective about who I would tell about this tortoise’s existence and even more careful about who would see the images I made of it. Of course, I hope I will get the chance to see it again, but I’m also prepared to have this be the one and only time I had this direct experience with it. With the tortoise secure again, I collected my belongings and with the sun setting on my back…started on the long hike back home. It had been a very special day and one that I would savor for some time to come.

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Two Arrangements in Plastic

Posted in Absurd, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, collections, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, flip-flops, found materials, Found objects, Installation, lost and found, lost sandals, material culture, nature photography, plastic, Plastic art, public art, recycled art, repurposed art, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, watershed, tagged Art, art and the environment, artist at exit 0, assemblage art, colorful plastic containers, Ekoart, Falls of the Ohio, found objects, material culture, nature, photography, plastic, plastic art, recycled materials, repurposed art, sense of place on January 24, 2016| 6 Comments »

Over the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday weekend I was able to make it out to the Falls of the Ohio State Park on a couple of occasions. It helped that this was a three-day weekend. I was curious to see what was lying around the riverbank after our first dusting of snow had blown away. As I was expecting, I found a lot of plastic bottles and containers, Styrofoam, and plenty of driftwood. I first inspect an area for the larger pattern left by the river. The stuff that floats most readily often defines the high water mark on the riverbank.

This is a typical detail of stuff that builds up on a driftwood mound. There are many automotive and boating references particularly plastic bottles that held various petroleum products. There is also a wealth of plastic beverage bottles to illustrate the carelessness of some folks recreating on the river. I have a mental image of this stuff eventually flowing downriver, into the Mississippi River, and out into the wider world through the Gulf of Mexico. What I see at the Falls of the Ohio is only what I see. I know there is a glacier of plastic and junk that by passes me and will show up somewhere downstream. With each succeeding flood, I keep thinking that all the stuff that had been accumulating upriver has already been washed into the watershed. That, however, doesn’t seem to be the case and the amount of “fresh trash” that shows up in the park seems not to have a limit.

Both days that I worked at the river were very cold ones. The piece I made using found yellow and green plastic was the coldest with temps hovering around 10 degrees and it was colder than that with the wind. After picking up what caught my eye, I retreated to my little studio area near the U.F.O. (Unidentified Floating Object) that is this welded and painted steel platform that washed into this area over five years ago.

I saw a possibility in the space under the UFO that was formed when the river shifted the driftwood mound. I cleared the space a little bit and found a plank and stump in which to set up what I would eventually call “Arrangement in Yellow and Green Plastic”. All the bottles and other colorful plastic items were picked up in the immediate area. The wind was really biting and so I sought shelter by the treeline. It took a little patience to make this piece because the wind kept blowing away the lighter items. Eventually, I fit everything together and held it in place by strategically using found bottles that still had weight to them because mud or sand had become their new contents.

My photos of this piece vary from one another because elements kept blowing off. I was struck that I could make a colorful gradation using primarily yellow and green plastic found just in the willow habitat. I favor doing these color pieces because they also reference the electromagnetic spectrum and without light, those ancient plants that lived and succeeded millions of years ago would not eventually become the crude substance from which these bottles were fabricated. It’s interesting to me to think that much of the energy we derive from fossil fuels is captured starlight from an ancient time. We owe it to the plants to be able to stabilize this energy through photosynthesis and fix it into their very tissues.

Eventually, the cold started to get to me and I was fast losing what little light was present on this day. I might have moved the blue plastic drum out of the bottom picture, but it was frozen into the ground and full of sand and mud and would have been a challenge to lift. After awhile, I began to like it for the additional color it lent this scene. One thing concentrating so much color in one area does is call into attention the brown drabness that subsumes everything else.

I returned to the river two days later. It was still very cold, however, a big improvement over the previous day. The sun was shining and the wind was absent. Having completed and photographed one colorful plastic arrangement, I set about creating a new one in a different palette of colors. Searching the area I decided to work at…I could see plenty of red and blue plastic items spread out among the driftwood. It took me an hour or so to pull these bottles and objects together. I wished that I might have come across a few more violet or purple items, but I guess these are colors that are used less than straight up red or blue? I know that in terms of lightfastness, red and purple plastic fades away quicker than many other colors.

Using a bit of the geometry I was feeling from the willow trees and the way the sunlight was hitting their trunks…I decided to site “Arrangement in Red and Blue Plastic” on the sand. There’s a distant view of the Ohio River through this informal avenue of trees. Watching how the shadows of the tree trunks were being cast upon the sand was an important element in the overall composition of this piece.

Among the items comprising this work are a blue plastic child’s putter golf club, the cap to a plastic cane that held Christmas candy and several flip-flops of the right color. When I finished this piece, I left it in place as I did the other arrangement. Perhaps the next time I return to this area, I may combine the two groups of plastic? I could create another grand rainbow with the addition of finding more orange in particular. I probably would throw in some black and white plastic items since they are here in quantity as well. I felt relatively good about this weekend’s projects and some of the images that resulted. When I am occupied with a project, I really don’t feel the elements in the same way. I suppose there is a bit of mind over matter happening too. When I do feel the cold, however, is when I decide to turn for home and come across a frozen sight like these containers locked in ice! Stay warm and safe everybody…from the Falls of the Ohio.

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First Snow of 2016

Posted in Absurd, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, birds and birding, collections, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Found objects, Installation, lost and found, material culture, nature photography, photography, plastic, repurposed art, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, fake snowman, Falls of the Ohio, Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center, found materials, material culture, nature, photography, plastic bottles, plastic dinosaur, plastic duck decoy, sense of place, site specific art, Styrofoam, willow tree, winter on January 16, 2016| 5 Comments »

The new year is off to an auspicious start. First we had a bit of minor flooding that rearranged the park and the new and improved Interpretive Center has successfully opened. I was curious to see what the river had left behind and make my first foray upon the riverbank and fossil beds. On the day I had prepared to venture forth, well, it snowed the night before and covered many areas with a light dusting of what looks like confectioner’s sugar upon the landscape.

I come prepared…mostly. Even covered up, I could feel the wind and the cold which was blowing hard enough that it made my eyes water. Reaching into my trusty Dutch field jacket, I pull out my vintage “Wind-Dodger” goggles and put them on. I came across these goggles still new in their 1950’s box at a favorite junk store that is now gone. They were manufactured by the Kono Manufacturing Co., of Woodside, N.Y. I think the graphics on the side of the box sold me as to their value. Printed in red ink it read:

“The scientific construction of the Wind-Dodger fits the natural contours of the features-providing maximum exclusion of wind and rain and all foreign particles in the air. The elastic tape holds the Wind-Dodger firmly in place under every condition of work and play in all kinds of weather.” I am a big believer in the value of science.

Further more, printed on the side of the box, was added they were suitable “For Work” and “For Play” and would be useful to railroad men, farmers, mechanics, construction workers, as they engage in sailing, hunting, fishing, flying, skiing, and driving. It was a natural leap for me to assume that they would also be perfect for a river junk artist like yours truly. One thing that the Kono Manufacturing Co. forgot to say is that they also steam up inside the goggles and require frequent drying. Still, they prove to be better than nothing.

The scarf I’m wearing is the oldest piece of clothing I own. It was given to me by a friend and artistic mentor back in the mid 1970’s and somehow I have held on to it over the years. I realize that with a lot of the clothing I own…I can be ridiculously sentimental.

The biting wind and cold are a concern, but so is the footing. The snow covers up a multitude of sins that cannot be seen. It is still slippery out here and in places the mud hasn’t completely frozen. Much of what I think I can find out here will remain hidden until warmer weather returns. But, I’m out here anyway and so I make a quick walk around some familiar places and record what I can with my camera phone.

I discover that a favorite willow tree is now almost completely bent over and resting on the ground. A huge log that the river deposited on top of this tree has shattered one of its main branches. I suspect that it is not long for the world. Spring flooding will repeat this battering process and I assume the tree’s prognosis is not good. Of course, there are other things that present themselves in this frigid landscape that rode in with the high waters.

My eye is immediately drawn to this purple plastic “dragon” rocking toy. I find another giant reptile reference on the rocks nearest the river and here it is.

This plastic sauropod arrived in a fresh water wave. I believe this species was formerly called “Brontosaurus”, but has been renamed “Apatosaurus” since it was discovered that an earlier scientific find gave the new name priority over the older, more familiar name. I briefly allow myself to soak in the irony of finding an object made from ancient petroleum that washed up on these even older fossil beds that references this prehistoric animal. Heady stuff indeed! Nearby, was my next find that continued this line of thinking.

And, what happened to some of the dinosaurs? It is believed that they evolved into birds. Right on cue, I find this plastic duck decoy! It represents the male Northern Shoveler, (Anas clypeata). I have found many other plastic duck decoys out here, but this is the first for this pretty species. The winter river at the Falls of the Ohio is a good place to see different duck species. In fact, winter may be the only time of year to see many of them. The river is steaming because the actual water temperature is warmer that the surrounding air, but the wind is a little fiercer too. I decide to keep walking and soon come across an old project I did from last year.

I created this site specific piece using green plastic bottles after last year’s flooding. It was sited high upon a big mound of driftwood that was too big for this recent minor flooding to affect much. Originally, I had filled the underside of what I think is the remains of a boat dock with the green bottles. Time has shifted the bottles to the bottom of the wood form.

While the snow is beautiful and transforming as these snow-covered vines can attest to….it is also getting ridiculously cold! The fingers on my right hand hurt and sting from the cold because I have to take my glove off to operate my camera. Soon images of a hot cup of coffee began to intrude upon my winter reverie. It’s time to go home, but there was yet one more very pleasant surprise waiting in store for me.

As I was heading back to the parking lot…I came across an old friend whom I was happy to see! We first met at the Falls on an absurdly warm day in December when the temperatures were in the low 70 degree range! I had photographed him as he was decorating river trees in advance of the holiday season. My old Styro-Snowman buddy was just beaming! At last, he was in his element and I’m so happy that his patience was rewarded. Not wanting to intrude too much in his special moment, I bid farewell and took this parting shot as I left the river. Stay warm everybody…from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Finding the Spirit of the Season

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, Clarksville, creativity, Found objects, material culture, Photograpy, public art, recycled art, repurposed art, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, children's story, decorating a Christmas tree, Ekostory, Falls of the Ohio State Park, found materials, material culture, nature, nature story, Snowman, spirit of a place, Spirit of the Season, star power, Styrofoam on December 25, 2015| 7 Comments »

Here’s a little story set at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana that will help carry us into the new year. This tale is from a few weeks back, but I have been saving it. I have, however, been using many of the images I created on this day for use with my Christmas cards. Making ornaments, setting up holiday lights, and coming up with a new batch of cards to give away are my ways of getting into the spirit of the season. I also enjoy attempting to put into words something about my Falls experiences and the following is this year’s gift from the river. Today, we are in the western section of the park. I know of four special trees with exposed roots (three sycamores and one cottonwood) that hang out together and have survived a very tough year and were due a visit from me. With the daylight fading, this would be a good place to watch the sun set as the Ohio River turns left on its journey westward.

Getting into the right spirit of the season can be difficult for some folks. Especially, when the weather is abnormally warm and you were hoping for snow to get winter kick started in the right direction. The Falls of the Ohio, like much of the eastern portion of our country, is currently in the grips of El Nino. Our area has set several all-time records for heat for this time of year. What a contrast from last year’s polar vortex! As luck would have it, the Styro-Snowman happened to be around when I was visiting the river. I stuck around to see what would happen next.

Although this snowman wore a fixed expression, his odd movements communicated befuddlement? Something was missing or just not right. I could see him looking around for something…perhaps a reminder of the season, but nothing appeared obvious? After roaming the fossil cliffs for several minutes he stopped and looked towards the sky. That’s when an amazing thing happened and if I didn’t have these pictures to prove it…I am sure you would not believe me. As the sun, our star, was setting…another star much smaller and shaped like a snowflake descended from the sky. I wondered if my friend here had willed it to him or did the star appear spontaneously? As the star drifted by the Styro-being reached up and gently brought the star down to earth. I could sense a feeling of joy coming over the snowman.

Along with the snowflake star…a small white sack appeared on the ground. Inside the sack were five, slightly beat up plastic tree ornaments like the kind you can sometimes find at the Falls after the flooding has subsided. The snowman looked into the sack a pulled out a roughed up, but still functional, deep red ornament. His expression widened and I almost felt like I was reading his mind. The snowman walked over to one of the four trees with the great roots and began decorating its branches.

The first tree the snowman embellished had a more open arrangement with ornaments hung on several branches. For whatever reason, the snowman didn’t find this to be satisfactory and he took his five ornaments off and moved to another nearby tree.

On a low hanging limb of another rugged sycamore, the snowman hung up his ornaments with care. He saved his bright red bauble for last and placed it upon the branch which was accomplished precariously by standing on a large tree root. The snowman looked content when he was finished and paused a moment or two to soak up his handiwork.

Oddly, the snowman had hung up his ornaments in a straight line that ascended the tree branch. Wordlessly, I could tell that he was moved by this alignment, but why? The tree, after all, could have been decorated any number of ways. Something about this configuration made me think of celestial models and how we rank planets based by size or their proximity to the sun. The now extraordinary branch seemingly had this cosmic link going for it. The snowman stood behind his decorations and peered up the line which seemed to be sighted to a particular spot in the night sky that seemed a little darker than the surrounding space.

Without saying a single word, the Styro-Snowman elevated the star that had come to him from high above. He had borrowed some of its magic and now it was his time to pass it on. It floated off until it reached that now dark spot in the firmament that it normally occupied. A bright flash of light signaled that the snow star was back in position. It is said that all life contains a little star power within it and I think I just witnessed that in action. With his spirit lifted, the snowman looked over his shoulders at me and with his fixed acorn smile disappeared into the river.

I dedicate this little story to all who seek some personal connection to the spirit of the season or who simply are following magic stars of their own. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Season’s Greetings from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Thanksgiving Encounter at the Falls of the Ohio

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, lost and found, material culture, nature photography, Photograpy, recycled art, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, tagged absurdity, Art, artist at exit 0, climate change, ecostory, environmental story, Falls of the Ohio State Park, found materials, Hulk hand, man and nature, material culture, osage orange fruit, plastic, sense of place, Styrofoam, Winter's arrival on December 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Here’s a tale from my last visit to the river which happened to be a wondrous and warm Thanksgiving morning at the Falls of the Ohio. Before the family gatherings and the feasts that followed, I jumped out of bed to put in a few hours of personal time. As I recall, on this day last year it was 17 degrees and we had already experienced a snow fall. Despite Turkey Day’s balmy 70 degrees, I didn’t see many other folks out here with the exception of a few early rising fisherman who were casting for Sauger near the dam. Nobody seemed to be having much luck catching fish. I decided that I needed to start off my holiday season by doing a little holiday shopping Falls style. Meaning, no money is required…just come out here and sooner or later you will find something interesting that drifted in with the driftwood. After all, everything out here has a story connected to it. It’s finder’s keepers on the riverbank and you can cross off your gift list those particularly “hard to shop for” loved ones in practically no time at all! First, you need a shopping cart and after searching around I found this…see above picture. Despite its small size…I decided to pass on this find because the missing wheels would just get in the way. I decided that one of my many collecting bags would have to suffice. So, what kinds of things stood out on this day?

I came across many fruits from the Osage-orange tree (Maclura pomifera). I love their glowing color and weird surfaces that remind me of brains. A squirrel was eating one when I approached. I have heard of people who put these fruits in their closets and trunks to keep insect pests away from their out of season clothes. People do collect and sell these soft ball size fruits for this purpose. Osage-orange trees have quite a few other nicknames including: hedge apple, monkey ball, horse apple, mock orange, and yellow-wood. Potentially this orb could be a stocking stuffer for an organically inclined friend or two? Our next item was found waiting for me on the wet and slimy fossil beds. The rocks were so slick, I had trouble remaining upright as I approached the mystery object.

Here’s something else sporting an unusual shade of green. As gentle river waves lapped the exposed limestone fossil beds…something that looked like a large fist presented itself lying next to driftwood logs. As I suspected when I first spotted this item…it was a toy “Hulk” hand. Essentially, this is an over-sized, comic book character, soft boxing glove that a child could insert their own hand within when their inner Bruce Bannon gets overwhelmed by their raging Hulk persona! Smashing could then ensue. I considered dropping this into the collecting bag, but it was so heavily saturated with river water. Still, definitely a pop culture item that would be appreciated once the darned thing dried out. I’ll come back to this later, unless someone who wants it more takes it home first!

After I did my rounds around the Willow Habitat, I headed for my outdoor studio under the trees. I had stashed two large chunks of found Styrofoam at my site that had floated into the park earlier in the spring with this year’s flooding. I had to wait months for the largest piece to thoroughly dry out before I could even attempt to lift it. These larger chunks may originally have been parts of boat docks which do absorb water while retaining buoyancy. As I was imagining what I could make with this material, a stranger approached me. I was so rapt upon my polystyrene pair that I had let my usual guard down.

“Excuse me…I don’t mean to disturb or startle you, but do you mind if I ask you a question?” I’m sure I must have had that slack-jawed look of amazement on my face! The absurd looking persona in front of me was much taller than myself. I estimated he was at least 6 feet 5 inches or even slightly taller than that. Dressed all in white, he had a large nose and two eyes that were different colors on an otherwise huge head. Over one of his shoulders he was carrying a snow shovel that was missing half its snow blade. I did my best to gather my wits and replied in a slightly cracked voice…”Sure, what’s your question?” It’s not that unusual for people (especially children) who see me out here to wonder about what I’m doing?

“Can you hear that?” asked the giant. I’m sure I looked puzzled and so he repeated the question. I then stood still and listened and replied that all I heard were the local birds moving through the trees. I had noticed earlier that the chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers and other seasonable birds had been especially active on this beautiful day. My large “friend”, however, said that it wasn’t the birds he was hearing but rather something more abstract than that. My response was to ask him what he was hearing that seemed beyond the threshold of my own hearing (which is no mean feat these days)? The big guy gave a one word response to me and it was…”Winter”.

The big guy had this wistful look upon his strange visage and he said, “Winter is coming my friend and that is what I hear.” He then continued, “This year is nearly history now and all it’s good, bad, and indifferent moments will be covered up by a cold, white blanket of forgetfulness.” I’m sure he was right about that, but it did seem odd considering it was 70 degrees outside today!

I asked my new acquaintance if he thought this was going to be a particularly tough winter since he seemed to be presenting himself as something of an authority on the subject?

He replied, “That’s difficult to say considering all the weather patterns and all the factors that generate the weather are in a state of flux.” He continued, “It’s been many, many years since I’ve seen the planet be this confused. I have been wandering the land gathering clues and I’m afraid, that I can’t give you an accurate forecast. The only thing I’m sure of is that at some point winter will arrive and I will be out here to meet it.”

My own thoughts turned to an episode of Falls of the Ohio history. This whole river valley was originally sculpted by one of the last glaciers at the close of the last Ice Age. You can even find deposits of gravel here that date from that period thousands of years a go.

I had to ask this Styro-Snow Shovel Man if he believed the changes in the weather had something to do with our species’ activities? “Well”, he said…”there are a lot of you on the planet now and as a group, you don’t seem very concerned about what’s happening in the big scheme of things.” I reluctantly had to agree with him. I have my own anecdotal information gleaned from this park to back up my own thoughts on the subject. At the time of this writing, many of the world’s leaders are meeting in Paris to try to decide if any changes could be made that might help reduce the impact of our overall activities. I remain open and hope a positive consensus can be reached. Like the approach of winter…we shall see. With Thanksgiving waiting for me…I said my good byes and left my new friend standing in the park. Perhaps I will see him again…after the first snowflake falls?

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Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center Panel

Posted in Absurd, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, collections, creativity, driftwood, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, lost and found, material culture, public art, recycled art, repurposed art, repurposed materials, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, tagged aluminum, Art, artist at exit 0, assemblage art, broken flamingo, coal, coyote skull, driftwood, exhibit display, Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center, Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center Panel, Falls of the Ohio State Park, found objects, glass, lost and found, material culture, plastic, sense of place, Solid Light Inc. on October 18, 2015| 6 Comments »

Although I could have gone on making this panel richer and richer, at a certain point, you need to call this piece finished. Solid Light, Inc., the Louisville-based exhibit design team responsible for the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center’s renovation wanted to have everything in place by October. Officially, the center won’t open to the public until January 2016, however, the center wants to do a series of trial runs to see how well the new exhibits will work with school groups under the center’s educational staff. I worked pretty feverishly at my friend Tom’s large studio to get this panel realized before needing to turn it over to the designers. Also compelling me was the need to undertake a personal trip to Florida with my family to visit my ailing mother. Mom is getting better, but it’s just not life anymore if there aren’t many balls being juggled in the air simultaneously! I had more than enough found objects and river materials to get the job done. If anything, I may have had too many things to choose from! For this post, I thought I would share images of the panel in progress as well as some detail shots of its surface. The fun of this piece is looking up close to see the variety of objects both natural and artificial that have been fixed into place.

I tried several arrangements before settling on something that I thought would work. Central in all my compositions was the use of an old marine cable and the fragment from the side of a discarded set of wooden steps. The design team wanted a look that seemed to suggest that the objects and materials I was going to use had just washed up upon this place. Having something that appeared casual and spontaneous, but also composed was a big challenge. My own formalist tendencies wanted to work within a tighter composition, but I relaxed that by doing several dry run layouts before I nailed or glued anything in place. Of course, there is fantasy operating in the finished panel too because no where at the Falls of the Ohio have I ever encountered this much concentrated stuff in such a small area.

Another step that I realized was prudent before attaching stuff was painting my wood panel. I went for a mottled brown and gray background that resembled mulch and dried leaves. I think I did a good job of covering the surface and only in places can you see through to the wood panel below.

I was really proud of myself! I only dipped my painting brush into my coffee once! Once the surface was dry, I began by attaching the nylon cable around the panel first. I used a borrowed nail gun hooked up to an air compressor to do this. In fact, where possible, I used the nail gun as much as I could. I also used screws and a variety of adhesives (depending upon the material being glued) to attach items to the board. Working with polystyrene and various plastics can be tricky because certain compounds will eat and dissolve these materials.

I worried that my barge cable might make the panel look too much like the decor you see in seafood restaurants, but I think I managed to barely escape that impression. After the cable, I attached the wooden steps and glued the larger pieces of Styrofoam into place. I had other limitations that I haven’t mentioned yet, but this is as good a place as any to say what those were. First, nothing could project off of the surface any higher than 3.5 to 3.75 inches! The panel would need to be able to slide into a case that is 4 inches deep. Another concern was keeping a clean 3/4″ open wood margin along the entire outer edge of the panel. This would assist in sliding the panel into its case. Apparently, after the above shot, I didn’t take any more in process photos because I was too busy making the thing! Here’s a pretty close to finished view of the panel. I worked on this panel horizontally, but did tip it up to see it as others will see it and to find out if anything would fall off the surface? Fortunately, everything pretty much stayed in place.

There is a whole list of things you can find on this panel. On the base level, it is a good mix of the driftwood, polystyrene, glass, coal, aluminum, and other plastics found in the Ohio River. Here are a few details to give you a better look.

Some of the items on the panel like the coyote skull …I’ve had for many years while other pieces like the plastic Native American came to light a month a go. I had to include at least one doll in this assemblage because outside of toy balls…dolls are the most frequently found toy I come across at the Falls of the Ohio. I sprinkled in enough polished coal, walnuts, and mussel shells to keep it lively. I’m looking forward to seeing all the finished displays sometime soon. I’m sure this panel will look completely different in its case and in the context of the other exhibits. Looking forward to getting back outside to the river sometime soon. I still have a trip to Richmond, KY on the schedule to pick up my art that I have on display there . For now, I will content myself with this picture taken in the park several weeks a go. Thanks for dropping by!

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It’s September and Current Projects

Posted in Art, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, collections, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, Installation, material culture, Ohio River, Ohio River flooding, repurposed art, repurposed materials, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, unusual collection, tagged Art, art exhibition, artist at exit 0, assemblage, driftwood, Eastern Kentucky University art department, Falls of the Ohio, Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center, found materials, found objects, Giles Gallery, lost and found, material culture on September 19, 2015| 10 Comments »

Although this is my first post of the month…my heart has not been far from the river or the odd kind of art that I make from the found remains of our material culture. A few months back, I accepted the generous offer from Esther Randall, who is the Gallery Director of the Giles Galleries at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond to show in their upstairs gallery. The bottom gallery will hold the colorful welded sculptures of Walter Early and his show will run concurrently with mine. I do like the postcard Esther created. She found two works by two very different artists that share the word “star” in their titles. Our exhibitions will open during the upcoming week and if you happen to be in the area. Please do stop by and check out our art shows. Richmond is about 22 miles past Lexington, KY or about an hour and 45 minute drive from Louisville. Here is the reverse of the card that gives other particulars about the opening reception and run of the show.

As you can see, my show is called “Albertus Gorman: Artist from Exit 0”. For all the work I’ve done at the river, I still identify very much with the “Exit 0” sense for place and the slightly existential “feel” that it implies to me. So much of my river art has been located in that interstitial area between the natural and artificial, between water and solid land, and between my own despair for the continued environmental degradation I experience in the park and the hope and optimism I want to feel as a human being rooted in the physical world. So what am I going to present in this newest exhibition?

Like many artists, I have the world’s greatest collection of my own artwork…or at least the pieces I’ve bothered to save from the river. Like many artists, I tend to keep moving forward making new stuff which means that many pieces exist that may have been shown only once or not at all. Of course, that is a big shame because different contexts bring out different qualities in the individual works and potential relationships that exist with the other pieces on exhibit.

Here are a few more artworks I have “staged” prior to loading them in a cargo van. I have many figurative Styrofoam sculptures that I have never shown in exhibition contexts. In the above image, you can see my latest piece which continues the work I have been doing with found plastic containers. I built a wall-mounted shelf from river-gifted wood and arranged the colorful plastic containers that I have also scavenged off the riverbank. The individual bottles have Velcro on their bottoms to help secure them onto their narrow shelf. A length of twine is there to help keep the bottles together while in transport.

All of these Styro-sculptures have stories associated with them and I remember them like old friends! This blog is their genealogical source recording their creation, their “lives” as art objects, and in some cases…even their demise.

I have five new works that were created specifically for this show. Three of them are larger photo enlargements I have had made that show works I created in the contexts of their river environments. For now, I will let Esther work her magic and I will post other images from the completed installation. I also have one other project going on that I have remained mum about so far. As you might remember, the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center has been closed for renovation as they upgrade their displays? Well, they have contracted with me to create an assemblage on a roughly 8 foot by 4 foot wooden panel showing some of the river junk I have collected within the park. I am really excited by this since this panel will be a part of their new presentation and will be the last panel seen as you exit the new displays. Thousands of people (many school tours) will get a chance to see this piece which will document many of the things that you can unfortunately find in the Ohio River. This panel is due soon and I have a lot of work left to do on it. Once completed, it will slide into a vertical case with a sheet of plexiglas with some text elements on it to help explain, cover, and protect it. It has already gone through several permutations, but for the moment, I will show just a few images taken of it in progress. Here are images from Phase 1.

As you can tell, this can go in a lot of different directions because of the wealth of materials available. All the stuff going onto this panel will have been collected within the Falls of the Ohio State Park. There is no need to go anywhere else! I want it to be as authentic as possible in so far as representing the kinds of stuff you can find floating in the Ohio River. Since these images were made, Solidlight (the Louisville-based company creating the new Interpretive Center displays) has suggested some changes. They want to see more driftwood used as a unifying element which should be easy enough to do. I hope, however, that they will appreciate that people will be just as interested in the variety of crap I’ve collected as well and not settle for a cross-section of materials that can be found at the water’s edge. To see that, a visitor simply needs to go down to the river to experience that already in place. My good friend, sculptor Tom Butsch is letting me use his studio to construct this. My own space at home is simply not large enough to accommodate this. A couple more pictures before ending.

A river found barge cable and section from a set of stairs are big individual elements going onto this panel. I keep playing around with different compositions. The trick for me is in keeping it more informal. My impulse as an artist is to want to order this in some more formal way. I will let you know how all this turns out. I have an early October deadline, so this panel will be my focus for the next few weeks. Until then…and from the banks of the Ohio River…see you next time.

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Rare Sandpiper at the Falls of the Ohio

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, birding, creativity, environmental art, found materials, Found objects, material culture, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, photography, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, tagged accidental bird, Art, artist at exit 0, birds, Devonian fossil beds, Falls of the Ohio State Park, found art, material culture, Monarch butterfly, nature, photography, rare sandpiper, sense of place, site specific artwork, Styrofoam, the natural and the artificial on August 25, 2015| 4 Comments »

Once a year, usually in mid to late summer, the dam is closed and the water retreats off of and exposes the ancient Devonian fossil beds. It is an other worldly landscape of blonde-colored rocks that preserves in limestone the proof that life existed over 400 million years ago. This exact place during that time too ancient to imagine was in the latitude of the present day Bahama Islands. Then it is was a marine reef supporting early salt water animals, most especially a large variety of corals. Today, this is a fresh water environment defined by the Ohio River. My goal is to cross over to the Kentucky side (where the majority of the fossil beds are located) by wading through the shallower areas near the tainter gates. Unfortunately, and unforseen by me, all the recent high water has made the riverbank a slippery muddy mess and the current that is allowed to flow through a channel by the dam is still too strong to wade through. I got almost half way across and found the footing treacherous. I didn’t fear for my personal safety, but I didn’t want to risk dunking my camera and phone in the water. Thwarted today, I will need to make better provisions for that the next time I attempt this.

So, I did the next best thing which was to explore the riverbank and nearby Willow Habitat. The resident colony of Black Vultures was hanging out under what shade some of these willow trees could provide. The bird in the above image is a sentry maintaining its post outside of where the main group of birds were resting under the nearby trees. The vulture flock doesn’t seem as large as it has been in the recent past. Perhaps the prolonged conditions of having a high river forced some of these large birds of prey to seek greener pastures? The vultures would allow me to only get so close before jumping into the air in search of thermals to lift them even higher. I continued my modified trip by walking towards the fossil cliffs below the Interpretive Center.

It was a very hot day and in places you would come across areas that were once very wet and had dried revealing a wonderful network of cracks.

I’m proud of myself. In addition to wearing a cap…I made sure to bring along plenty of drinking water on this very hot and humid day. Here my bottle is wrapped in a heavy mil plastic bagel bag. I used this to keep the other items in my pack dry just in case this bottle leaked. I continued my hike to the fossil cliffs when I could see something snow-white in color moving along the ground. At first I thought this was a piece of paper disturbed by the breeze, but soon noticed it was moving in bird-like fashion. I continued approaching very carefully yet deliberately and had my cameras at the ready. Here is my first image of what would soon be many.

Switching over to higher magnification, I could see my new bird was a species I had never encountered out here before. In the comfort of my own home I was able to identify this little guy as the Yellow-collared Sandpiper (Caladris fascinati). This is a tiny shorebird more at home in the Pacific Northwest and has rarely been recorded east of the Mississippi River. This is the first recorded instance of this bird at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. So, what was it doing here so far away from home?

It is not unusual for this park to record rarities during the migration seasons in early spring and autumn. To see this bird here outside the normal times shorebirds would be migrating through our area makes me think this bird is here by accident. Perhaps one of the monster storms we have experienced this year blew this little one way off course? Looking at my reference guides, I identified this as being a juvenile of the species. You can tell that by the pink bill. Once fully mature, the bill turns dark, nearly black in color. I have recorded other juvenile shorebirds migrating through the park on other Falls of the Ohio adventures. In particular, I remember seeing juvenile Golden Plovers and once…even saw a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher. What makes these sightings all the more incredible for me is knowing that a few short weeks ago…these birds were beginning life as eggs in shallow nests located in the high Arctic tundra. Normally, the Yellow-collared Sandpiper migrates down the Pacific coastline of the United States, crosses into Mexico, and winters in Central America. This is a journey of several thousand miles.

I observed this bird for about a half hour or so. I watched it feeding around the margins of small pools of water that had puddled on the fossil beds. It used its pink bill to probe the soft mud in search of the tiny invertebrates that make up the bulk of its diet. The bird seemed not to be concerned about me and I took many photographs to document its presence in the park.

The mouse-like bird moved like a wind-up toy on the fossil rocks. When it moved, its tiny legs seemed to be going as quickly as they could. The sandpiper had a curiosity for the world and checked out every clump of vegetation and crack upon the limestone surface as potential sources for food. Perhaps it was the hawk that flew high over our heads casting a fast shadow upon these ancient reefs that scared it away or perhaps it just grew tired of my company…regardless, the Yellow-collared Sandpiper flew away in a blur of brown wings. I thought I could detect a high “peep” call note as it went skyward. Heading back to my vehicle, I had one more pleasant surprise in store for me. While this is not on par for rarity, seeing the beginning of the Monarch butterfly migration going through our small piece of the planet is still an awesome occasion. Like the Yellow-collared Sandpiper, the Monarch butterfly has a very impressive migration of its own as it moves from Canada to Mexico and back again. On my way home, I said a little prayer asking for the continued safety of all the small things moving through the world. I guess that’s it for this time at the Falls of the Ohio.

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Willow Portrait

Posted in art and environment, Art and Nature, Artist at Exit 0, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River flooding, Photograpy, repurposed materials, sense of place, Site specific art, watershed, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, black willow, Falls of the Ohio, giant necklace, nature photography, Ohio River flooding, sense of place, site specific installations, tree portraits, willow trees on July 31, 2015| 3 Comments »

Last weekend I visited an old friend and was shocked by the state that I found it in. In this case, my friend is a favorite Black Willow tree (Salix nigra) that grows within the Willow Habitat in the eastern section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. We have just come out of a particularly wet June and July that saw the area this tree grows in being mostly underwater. Record amounts of rainfall have kept me on the very fringes of an encroaching Ohio River. Of course, I rushed back into the park when opportunity presented itself and things looked like they were returning to “normal”. Usually, lots of water is something that willow trees can appreciate. In this case, however, the willow trees near the old railroad bridge were submerged twice this year by the flood waters. In addition, floating and semi-submerged logs batter the stationary trees when strong currents push against them. Spreading willow roots do their best to maintain their hold upon the land. To add injury to insult, receding river levels often strand their floating driftwood loads in what’s left of the branches and crowns of these willow trees. The weight of this wood is a big burden which then further shapes the living willows. This is what happened to my friend. I found the formerly nice arc of its main branches and trunk now growing nearly horizontally with the ground. I decided to put together this post of images of this particular tree to see if I could detect other changes over the years.

Looking through thousands of images, I found this shot from November of 2010. Looks to be a cold morning. I’m not certain when this particular tree caught my attention, but it must have been around this time. I’m sure, however, that the processes that shape these trees were already at work. I can imagine this willow growing straight and tall if circumstances were different.

The next image dates to early June of 2011. This is the same tree with its long, narrow, and slightly saw-toothed edged leaves out in full. Already you can see an impressive and exposed root mass anchoring this tree in position.

Here’s an image from March of 2012 showing water encroaching upon our willow tree. I wonder how large the root mass actually is that keeps this tree alive in what seems an unpromising place?

A month later, April 2012, and the waters have returned to their seasonable pool and the tree is beginning to leaf out. From the way the three main trunks of the tree are all leaning west…I suspect that the weight of deposited driftwood? helped “train” the tree to grow in this position.

September 2012 and the leaves are beginning to show hints of autumn yellow. Soon the willow will drop all of its leaves which will eventually gather around the base of this tree.

Two shots of one of my favorite Falls projects. For over ten years I had been collecting the hard, yellow foam cores of contemporary soft balls that wash into the park minus their leather coverings. I decided to make a large necklace from my special river pearls that I named “La Belle Riviere” or The Beautiful River which was the name the French missionaries gave the Ohio River very early during its exploration. I posed my “necklace” and photographed it in many different places and positions. The images I made while it graced this willow tree were among the best.

The following images are from 2014. This one was taken in June. And, the following two are from August of the same year.

Now for some winter images. These more stark pictures were taken during February of 2015. We had some decent snow falls this year. I like getting a good variety of images showing the park during all the seasons.

That leads us to my most recent photographs. For parts of June and a lot of July, this tree was submerged from view. I never did get a good look at it with the driftwood that rafted onto it.

The willow tree has bent completely over and is “resting” on some of its branches. The tree is still in leaf, but turning more yellow, (perhaps due to all the stress it has endured?) So far, this tree has been a survivor and I hope that it can somehow “bounce back” from this turn of events. We shall see. I will make a special attempt to record what happens to this tree from here on out. I will close this post and the month of July with one last image of this remarkable willow tree. Until next time…from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

Art and images from the Falls of the Ohio.

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On Plastic River

On the Trail of the Red-eyed Tortoise

Two Arrangements in Plastic

First Snow of 2016

Finding the Spirit of the Season

Thanksgiving Encounter at the Falls of the Ohio

Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center Panel

It’s September and Current Projects

Rare Sandpiper at the Falls of the Ohio

Willow Portrait

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