Posted in Absurd, Art, collecting art, collections, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Ohio River, public art, unusual collection, watershed, tagged Art, found objects, Ohio River, photography, unusual collection on June 10, 2010| 6 Comments »
Here’s a collection of found objects that I photographed on location at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. All form a theme centered around transportation in the form of mostly discarded toys. I found all this stuff by the side of the river during the past year. Since the theme is obvious, I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves. Let’s start with another boat. It’s not the “Titanic” or the wreck of the ” Edmund Fitzgerald” but it bore witness to forces in nature larger than itself.
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, unusual collection, tagged Art, Falls of the Ohio, found objects, lost toys, Ohio River, photography on May 23, 2010| 7 Comments »
I thought I would post a recent collection of photographs of some of the stuff I’ve come across since mid April. The river has been very up and down during this time and accessing the shoreline hasn’t always been possible. Whenever I come out to the Falls, I’m also interested in what else I can find in addition to what I can make from some of this stuff. I’ll start with this “Sunny Ball” I found lying in a pool of water with a sheen on it! I see this frequently as it surfaces through the sands. Here’s another.
The iridescence isn’t just motor oil (although there has to be some of that here) but also includes decaying organic matter in the form of old leaves. In this case, there is also fluff from cottonwood trees.
Nice recent cracks in the mud. I’m not sure what the blue plastic object is, but the tracks going through this scene are from a white-tail deer. How about some more found faces? Here’s another lost ball with images.
I found this ball when Julia accompanied me. Here’s another image from that adventure with a Halloween theme.
For those of you unfamiliar with this American custom, on October 31, children go door to door in their neighborhoods in costume and collect candy. These plastic jack-o-lanterns are popular for storing the candy. Here’s another I recently came across peeking out among the debris.
I also find many other figurative toys. The more traditional dolls I come across frequently make disturbing images. I’ll save those for another time but I think these are interesting as well.
His shirt says “Forty the Legend Continues”. I wonder if this is a novelty item from a barbeque establishment along the river?
Another pig-themed…not certain what this is? It could be the lid from something and was about two feet across and heavy. His eyes caught me as I walked across the sand.
Continuing with pigs…here’s a plastic stopper? I found recently. Maybe this belongs with a bottle of pig perfume? Nice bow tie.
I’m walking along looking and listening for birds when my eyes are drawn downward and I see a “Big Bird” I wasn’t expecting! I lifted it off the ground and a quick photo is taken at the place of discovery.
I came across this lying on the sand and maybe because of the orange color, may be a Halloween novelty too? It was flat and lightweight and the white spinner-thing spins. Perhaps off a glider toy? Anyway, it has personality as does my next image.
The “A” is for Alvin of the Chimpmunks’ fame. He is a little worse for wear. The river is very tough on everything. He is posed by some carpeting that washed ashore near this object.
Came across this just yesterday and I “love” (almost hate to say this) the patina on this plastic snowman bottle. I popped this into my collecting bag. I imagine this must have been floating out on the river for a while to acquire this surface color. Not sure what I will eventually do with it. I think that’s about it for now. I have one more image, also from yesterday. I came across a really large expanse of beach left high and dry and this was its surface. This is what’s created when a really large piece of Styrofoam gets chewed on by the river and floating logs…a Styro-aggragate.
Posted in Absurd, Art, collecting art, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, unusual collection, tagged Art, art interview, public art, recycled art, sculpture, spotlight, Styrofoam on May 20, 2010| 3 Comments »
Guess what everybody! An interview I did with one of my favorite blogs was recently published and I’m honored to be placed in the spotlight. If you get the chance check out the interview and scroll through some of Lynda’s stories. If you like art, poetry, popular culture and more…than you will find her blog worth the visit!
Here’s the link to the Echostains blog, http://echostains.wordpress.com/
Posted in animals, Art, collections, creativity, environmental art, fresh water, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, unusual collection, watershed, tagged Art, Life at the River's Edge, museum display, Oldham County History Center, Styrofoam sculpture on May 7, 2010| 6 Comments »
On May 6, the Oldham County History Center had a members’ opening for their Oldham County: Life at the River’s Edge exhibit…which was actually several exhibits in one. My sculptures played a part in the overall display and were integrated among the other exhibits. I really liked the idea that my work (which included objects and images) would find a home among other examples of our material heritage. Here are a few images from the event. Once I got home and looked at the pictures, I realized I didn’t have any with people in them! Yes, there were indeed people present and I enjoyed meeting and talking to them all! Thanks for the beer and bar-be-que too!
Nancy Stearns Theiss, the center’s director, lives on by the Ohio River and so she recognizes the materials I use and where they come from. She gathered up her own debris and put it in context with my work. Nancy has a strong background in environmental education and recognizes what my project is attempting to do in a way that I must say gets overlooked in the usual art gallery context.
This was also the first time I have been able to show my Falls images, sculptures, and collected objects in the same exhibit. I have always imagined that this would create the most interesting display. The photo above is an example of this and includes my “Fake Food Collection” that I have gathered on the riverbank over the years.
Become a Trash Artist! I guess there’s no denying that I’m one. As an activity, materials were on hand if anyone felt the urge to make something that was encouraged. My “3M Wasp” is hanging from the ceiling with fishing line. This piece gets its name from the protective mask I found that looks to me just like an insect’s face. Later during the summer, I will participate in a workshop making art from found materials.
Also on display was a Living Stream Touch Table, essentially an aquarium with native creatures that one might encounter in the local fresh water environment. Among the animals in the tank include several species of native fishes, crayfish, frogs, and a small water snake.
The exhibit will be up until August and I look forward to returning and participating with the center again. This final image is located on the center’s grounds and right next to an example of a root cellar.
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, recycled art, unusual collection, watershed, tagged Art, found objects, lost toys, Ohio River, oil spill, plastic on April 29, 2010| 2 Comments »
I am always photographing the junk I find at the Falls of the Ohio. Looking through my newer images I was amazed by all the toys I have come across recently. Now these are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. All time, this would be an immense category on its own. When I’m doing my usual posts, I’ll throw in an odd find if I think it contributes to the story. Otherwise, this stuff just gets buried in my computer. Maybe when I’m an old man, I’ll come back and revisit this stuff. By then, a lot of this junk will appear dated and nostalgic. I’ll probably look that way too!
All the stuff I’m about to present is made of plastic, which is made from resins derived mostly from crude oil. I remember seeing a picture of a middle class American home with all its plastic contents arranged in the front yard. It looked like just about everything this house contained was made from plastic and it was shocking!
I have been following the news lately about that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and it has me feeling very anxious. I don’t know why more people aren’t getting freaked out about this? Essentially, you have a hole drilled deep into the ocean’s floor that’s hemorrhaging oil and the attempts to plug this hole haven’t worked. The slick is already hundreds of miles long and will soon come into contact with the Gulf Coast’s rich estuaries. A couple of years a go, my family vacationed in Gulf Shores, Alabama and it was fun and beautiful. I don’t want to imagine those white beaches fouled with oil.
I debate with myself about whether something like this event can be considered a “natural disaster”? Granted it probably doesn’t fit the usual definition, however, haven’t we (as a species of animal) that originated here make us “natural” as well? Isn’t a big part of the problem that we have successfully convinced ourselves that we are on some other plane and that life’s rules don’t apply to us? Aren’t all man-made disasters in effect natural disasters?
Often it seems more convenient to bury our heads in the sand and pretend events like this oil spill have no long-term effects. Where is the outrage and our will to do the right thing?
Life is interconnected to life and it is ridiculous to think our mistakes don’t affect other organisms that have a right to exist in their own right.
Everywhere life is under pressure from the global scale of our activities.
The sad truth is unless we find ways to reconnect and revere nature…we will eventually will be hammered by it. One thing I see over and over at the Falls is that life is indifferent and doesn’t play favorites. Will we be the architects of our own undoing?
If crude oil is a disappearing resource, doesn’t it make sense to use it for things that really matter? Do we truly need to lock so much of it up in uses that are this disposable and forgettable?
Often it seems to me that we are in a big rush to go nowhere as fast as we can. Why the big hurry? Life is short enough and consuming everything we come into contact with isn’t going to make the experience more meaningful. It’s past time to slow down and rearrange our priorities.
Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, unusual collection, tagged Art, cigarette lighters, found objects, garter snake, nature on April 22, 2010| 2 Comments »
With Thunder over, my good friend Jeff accompanied me to the Falls the very next day. He was on a mission to find wood for a home improvement project and the Falls has plenty of that. On our way down to the river we passed a fisherman who warned us that there was a belligerent snake ahead of us that had tried to strike him! Okay, we are forewarned, but not overly concerned. Amazingly, we came across this snake. It had not moved much since the morning was still cool and it was lying in the sun trying to get its metabolism going. It’s a harmless Eastern Garter Snake and here are pictures of it. This snake will try to bite, but it’s really very harmless.
This snake is often found near water, but can’t be classified as a water snake. I did get a little closer and the snake did nothing. Here’s a detail of its head. This guy is about fifteen inches long. I like its coppery-eyes.
Jeff and I had a good laugh over the fisherman’s over reaction! At least to his credit, he didn’t try to kill this snake which happens far too much in this world. Snakes do carry with them that element of surprise, but most of them are really beneficial. Even if I had come across a poisonous species, I would just respect it and leave it alone. I made another discovery and I guess I would have to classify this as a signed artwork?
It would have been easy to overlook this, but I turned my head in this direction and there it was. Someone named “Hollie” took the time to sign and date this piece of wood near this old tire. I felt this person was calling attention to the poetry in this space in a way similar to the work of Anne and Patrick Poirier. It’s probably just me reading too much into the situation, but I did find this simple act compelling.
Jeff found the wood he was looking for and several potentially nice walking sticks too. I found Styrofoam which I also used to make something, but will wait until next time to show you. Jeff and I have been good friends since our undergraduate art school days at Murray State University. Jeff is a talented artist in his own right and does drawing and ceramics. He teaches art to middle school children. During our hike at the Falls, Jeff was amazed by the number of cast off cigarette lighters he kept finding and started picking them up. Here’s what he eventually did with them.
Jeff collected 23 lighters, but only lined up 20 for this photo. He could have collected a sack full of these lighters if he wanted to. Here’s the view from the other side showing my friend working on a walking stick.
After the pyrotechnics of the previous evening, this was as laid back and relaxing a day as could be. We each left the Falls with as much river treasure as we wanted to carry. I also had a camera full of images that I could use to post on this blog. Eventually, the wind started to pick up and with the lighter piece in shambles, took that as our cue to go home.
On our way back to the parking lot, we passed by the wall that separates the Ohio River from this stretch of the Falls area. With the City of Louisville in the background, I photographed these up rooted trees that were deposited here during the last high water incident. They will stay there until the Ohio River decides to carry them away.
Posted in Absurd, Art, collections, creativity, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, unusual collection, tagged Art, D.W. Griffith, museum, Oldham County Historical Society, Oldham County Kentucky, Styrofoam sculpture on April 15, 2010| 4 Comments »
Last weekend I traveled the 32 minute drive from Louisville to LaGrange, Kentucky along I-71. The drive runs parallel and upriver to the Ohio River. I was delivering my artwork to the Oldham County Historical Society to be a part of a series of exhibits exploring “Life at the River’s Edge”. The historical society’s Executive Director, Nancy Stearns Theiss, had seen my work on an earlier occasion and was kind enough to invite me to show in their museum. Nancy and her family live along the river and so she was already familiar with the types of materials I use for my art.
LaGrange is a picturesque town especially during the spring when so many flowering trees are in bloom. The Oldham County History Center (building with the green tin roof) and complete with root cellar, encompasses The Peyton Samuel Head Family Museum which has interactive exhibits and a collection of artifacts illustrating life in early Oldham County. I usually can’t resist the charms of a small museum. You just never know what you will discover in such a place! After looking around, I became really excited to think about my work appearing in such a context!
I love the unusual juxtapositions and displays of historic items that share space with one another. It’s a context filled with mixed up memories. I have always found trying to make sense of the past to be a poignant endeavor. I often think about how people in the future might view the times we live in. My sculptures are certainly mixed up creations and the materials I use have a benchmark quality to them that speaks directly to our moment.
I liked the idea that my art would be under the same roof as displays of old tools, dolls, and even a fossilized mammoth vertebrae. Despite the sign, I was given permission to pick this old bone up and I was surprised at how heavy it was. You definitely would not want to drop this thing on your foot!
I’m always amazed by how a small town can produce a person who would go on to significantly influence the larger culture. Oldham County’s example of this is the life and work of D.W. Griffith who is considered the creator of American film. He was born in the county in 1875 and eventually passed away in Hollywood in 1948. Years later, his body was exhumed and he was reburied back where he came from in Oldham County.
Reading one of the museum’s handouts, I learned that Griffith invented many different film making techniques including the use of flashbacks, fade outs, moving cameras, and high-angle photography. Of course, I have heard of D.W. Griffith, but I don’t think I have ever watched a complete film before. At the museum, you have the chance to watch some of his short films. I recorded this image of an actor in blackface going into a burning building to rescue a child. You film buffs out there…do you recognize this scene and the film it comes from? I missed the opening credits and there was more in the museum to see.
Already on view were the paintings and decorated furniture by Oldham County artist Breck Morgan. He paints in an accomplished rustic style that emulates early American folk art. His illustration is on the dust jacket “Oldham County: Stories from the River’s Edge” which is a new history of the county written by Nancy Stearns Theiss. Here are images of both the cover….
…and the book’s author with my “Cat Man” sculpture.
I brought eleven sculptures, six large digital prints, and my famous “Found Food Collection”. I’m looking forward to seeing them arranged in the museum. The show opens this week and will run until August 1.
Later I will give both a talk about my art and participate in a workshop making artworks from objects found along the river. Sounds like fun and I can’t wait to return to see everything in place. If you want to learn more about the Oldham County Historical Society, here is their website’s address: www.oldhamcountyhistoricalsociety.org
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, recycled art, unusual collection, watershed, tagged Art, blogging, bowling ball, found objects, Ohio River on April 9, 2010| 4 Comments »
After the foothills of central Texas, it’s nice to be in the Derby City again. All along the 2000 mile road trip it was amazing to watch Spring burst forth along the highway. It occurred to me while I was away, that this is also my one year anniversary of the “Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog”. I have noticed from other blogs, that their authors frequently feel compelled to say something about the experience and I will attempt to do the same in a few words because I think the readers this blog has attracted would rather see me go bowling!
Initially, I thought it would be fun to blog through a year’s worth of seasons and move on to the next thing. But what happened is that I found myself looking forward to posting! For what I’m doing out at the river, this seems a good medium for sharing my experiences and discoveries and is an alternative to exhibiting my art in the usual ways. I have had gut check moments when I questioned my motives for blogging, but since my expectations weren’t too high…I haven’t been too disappointed. I have had a couple of opportunities come my way to present my work and that has been fun. The coolest thing, however, is reflected in the comments that friends and visitors have left along the way and I have looked forward to reading and replying to them! To everyone who took the time to bother…you have my heart-felt thanks!!
I have to laugh looking at the photo above because it represents my fifth or sixth attempt to hit the “pins” and record an image of the action. Normally, I’m a decent shot, but I didn’t take into account the sloping nature of the riverbank. As I rolled the ball and looked through the camera, the ball would swerve harmlessly away! It wasn’t a strike, but I was able to pick the spare up on the next ball. My pins are various fluid-filled plastic bottles I came across in the vicinity of the blue plastic toy bowling ball I found. Over the years, I have found other genuine bowling balls and a couple of them are among my favorite finds.
If you were wondering if bowling balls float…the answer is yes! Their cores are composed of this dense foam that gives them some buoyancy in the water. Sometimes when I find an object, their immediate identity might remain a mystery until I have fully checked the object out. In the first photo, it might not be apparent that these are bowling balls. But, if I flip them over….
…then you can see the characteristic three finger holes drilled into the ball. What really blows me away with these balls is their condition. I can’t imagine too many things tougher to destroy than one of these balls, but this is exactly what the river did! I imagine that over the years, these bowling balls must have bounced off rocks, logs, and barges on their way to the sands of the Falls of the Ohio. Here are a few more shots of these amazing balls.
The red exterior of this ball has always reminded me of some hard candy you might find in a dish at your grandma’s house. I especially like how this ball has weathered. It has a nice flat spot on one side that I guess was created by abrasion in the sand? I also like the balance between outer covering and inner core. Judging from the size of the finger holes, this was probably a child’s ball or someone with a small hand. The last ball is amazing because the remains of the finger holes create this haunting face image complete with an ear off to the side. I have seen figurative American Indian art with similar facial expression. I also find the crack that runs through this ball to be an attractive element. Again, it’s a testament to the power of river and the amount of energy it can exert on an object. Through the years I have found several bowling balls, but I have only kept these two.
Posted in animals, collections, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River, public art, unusual collection, tagged Falls of the Ohio State Park, Interpretive Center, Mammoth, natural history exhibit on April 1, 2010| 3 Comments »
Since I will be away from my computer for a short while, I wanted to squeeze in one more post. Recently, I went inside the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center and recorded these images of the display in their main hall. The center is in the process of upgrading their exhibits, but I hope they choose to keep this centerpiece. It is a three-dimensional collage of the history of life as it has presented itself at this location. Here the ancient meets the contemporary, fact confronts legend, the terrestrial meets the aquatic, and fresh water mingles with the marine.
I have picked out a few details to present to you. This display incorporates both traditional taxidermy and state of the art model making. I love it because it retains this cabinet of curiosities feel to it and it has these unusual juxtapositions. In the image above, a bison comes face to face with an ancient Devonian carnivorous fish!
And speaking of fish…here are a few representations of fish that currently can be found in the Ohio River swimming along side this interpretation of an ancient shark. Among the living species found here include the Paddlefish, Striped Bass, Walleye, and several large species of catfish. The rocks in the park are loaded with marine fossils from the Devonian period (roughly 375 million years ago) which saw the first fish appear on life’s stage. Interestingly, fish fossils are very rarely found here, but we have lots of evidence of different corals and brachiopods.
It’s the large view which includes this Mammoth skeleton replica that makes the biggest impression on visitors. The center has done a good job of telling the story of the importance of the Falls of the Ohio and I look forward to seeing how their refreshed exhibits carry this mission forward. I’ll show you other display images later, but for now… see you next week.
Posted in Absurd, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, unusual collection, watershed, tagged design, found objects, plastic bottle, plastic container 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!!
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 