I consider this a great honor that fellow blogger Isaac Yuen focused one of his posts around my art projects from the past year and the tales I’ve created around them. For several years now, I have enjoyed Isaac’s award winning blog Ecostories. He has made me a believer in the power of the spoken and written word to convey universal truths particularly when they speak about our evolving relationship with nature. Stories are important and everyone has a story to tell. Isaac has a great way of taking on complex narratives and making them understandable. I encourage you to check out his thoughtful, positive, and beautifully written blog.
Posts Tagged ‘Art’
Gallery Talk at the Carnegie Center
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collecting art, creativity, Ohio River, recycled art, Styrofoam, tagged Art, art exhibition, artist at exit 0, Carnegie Center for Art and History, Falls of the Ohio, gallery talk, homemade balls, New Albany, photography, R. Michael Wimmer, sculpture, softball cores, Styrofoam, The Potential in Everything on February 9, 2014| 9 Comments »
Our first gallery talk about the”Potential in Everything” exhibition happened yesterday. Through a light dusting of falling snow, about 20 people braved the elements to hear R. Michael Wimmer and myself talk about our respective projects. I was delighted by the turnout and had a great time too. I am glad to have had this gallery opportunity because the river has been so high of late that getting to my usual spots at the Falls of the Ohio has been a challenge. Perhaps this is nature’s way of redirecting me?
It was a nice mixed ages group and a few local artists attended as well. People were very respectful and asked some interesting questions. Michael and I have very different processes, but the end results involve using something that has already functioned in the world and making something new from them. For me, that shift took many years of transition because my formal artistic training involved “staring down” a blank piece of paper or canvas and making something happen in a more traditional way. Although my old drawing professor might disagree with me about this…so much of the work I now do comes out of the conceptual concerns I first encountered through drawing.
When I get the chance to talk about art and creativity in general, I like to mention how important it is for all of us to cultivate that impulse to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Sadly, I hear far too often from too many people how they aren’t artistic or have any business being involved with creative acts and I know this to be untrue. I feel that part of my role is to get folks to expand their definitions of what is creative or aesthetically minded. Creativity is a precious, universal resource and available in everyone and may represent much of our hopes for a better future. We need to get people turned on to their own potentials instead of emphasizing the consumer in them. Too help illustrate this I brought my Homemade Ball Collection with me and placed it upon the pedestal that my “Flat-faced Cat with Bird” is sitting on. I found all these “balls” at the Falls and they are made from electrical tape, duct tape, cellophane tape, and aluminum foil. Rolling these waste materials into balls is not necessary for their disposal, however, I was struck by the artistic impulse I perceived in them by their anonymous makers to shape and form. There is obvious care in their making and rolling something into a cohesive ball has a satisfying side to it. After this sidebar and when the talk ended, I went outside to see how my “other” ball piece in the tulip poplar in front of the center was doing?
“La Belle Riviere” seemed to be in good shape. I was curious to see if any ice would be decorating it, but not this time. Ice can contribute a lot of weight which might take my nylon line beyond its limits. I look forward to spring’s arrival and how the appearance of this piece will change as the tree transforms. New Albany, Indiana is just a few miles downriver from Louisville. The town has an extensive riverfront and I took the opportunity to check it out in greater detail.
There is a large earthen berm that protects the New Albany from the adjacent Ohio River. A key feature of their riverfront is this structure used for concerts and special events.
One way to reach New Albany from Louisville is to cross the river over the Sherman Minton Bridge. Bridges in our area are a usual and often contentious topic of conversation. This one was closed down recently for much-needed repairs, but caused a headache for commuters while it was being fixed. Bridges are vital to river towns and a new one is currently being constructed near Louisville’s downtown. This new bridge was years in the planning and much of the controversy surrounding it involved where exactly would it cross the river and how would it tie into the existing interstate highway systems. The Ohio River has been high due to snow and rain in the upper part of the valley, but I walked down to the river’s edge and guess what I found?
Yes, it’s river polished Styrofoam. There’s goes my main art material floating towards the Gulf of Mexico. There are a couple other events associated with “The Potential of Everything” exhibit including a family workshop I will be leading on March 1. I have enough collected sticks and polystyrene that it will be fun making things with other people. I will also be giving a solo gallery talk on March 4. Michael will be doing a studio talk and welcoming people to visit his place on March 25. And, there will be a closing tea and cookies event at the Carnegie on the exhibit’s last day on April 5. So, if you are in the area and haven’t seen the show…there are other opportunities coming hopefully in beautiful weather! If you want to see my found homemade balls in more detail, I did a previous post about it entitled “The Need to Form: Handmade Balls from the Falls of the Ohio” and can be found in this blog’s search feature. Speaking of balls, I did find one other item by the river in New Albany and I’ll end this post with it. Stay warm out there!
The Ice Tourist
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, ecosytem, environmental art, nature, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, watershed, tagged Art, art in public spaces, artist at exit 0, Falls of the Ohio, found materials sculpture, ice, ice formations, nature, nature photography, polar vortex, recycled art, Styrofoam art on February 1, 2014| 21 Comments »
Polar vortex…that’s the new buzz words for us this winter. The Kentuckiana area has tasted this Arctic gift twice so far and we haven’t had a winter this cold in many years. It manifests with the temperature bottoming out around 0 degrees Fahrenheit…colder still with the wind chill. Snow and ice also accompany this blast of icy weather. Once under the spell of the polar vortex…all one can do is ride it out. It’s going to be bone-chilling cold for several days in a row. Even if you know it’s going to happen, you really don’t feel prepared for it. People tape plastic over their windows to trap heat and foil wind. Shoppers rush out to purchase bread and milk. Folks let the faucets drip throughout the day and night to prevent freezing and bursting water pipes. Still, the plumbers are busy. Extra layers of clothes are needed however, you still feel cold around the edges. If there is a weakness in a machine…the extreme cold will find it and this happened to my trusty rivermobile. School may be out, but otherwise it’s pretty much business as usual.
The part about “business as usual” also strikes me as being a bit sad. I am of the opinion that the reason the Earth has winter is to slow everything down and that’s vitally necessary. It’s meant to be reflective and allows a moment for a deep breath before moving on again. We all have more than enough pushing us to accomplish tasks at increasing breakneck speed. The polar vortex challenges us to slow down if we can.
In an effort to foster personal wonder for the world, I made it out to the Falls of the Ohio on a day that wouldn’t risk frost bite. Over the years, I have prized coming out here on cold winter days especially if it meant seeing different ice formations. There are ice ribbons, sausage-shaped icicles, frozen homemade candles, and just plain ice blobs on display. I love the variety of forms and the play of light through the magic of solid water. The most interesting ice formations are near the water’s edge where the willow trees catch the rising steam off of the river. The water is warmer than the surrounding air temperatures and this “fog” helps coat the roots and branches with glassy layers of ice. I thought I had the place all to myself when I was joined in this frigid landscape by a new friend.
He described himself as being a fellow “ice tourist” and so that’s how I remember him. He said he was curious about the ice, but also wary of stepping through thin ice and feeling the burn of extremely cold water. I’ve had this experience before and so I could relate. The Ice Tourist told me he had followed my tracks into the ice field and so far I had kept him out of danger. We spent about an hour together before parting. Here are some more pictures of him posed next to the ice formations we encountered.
The Ice Tourist had to check out everything as closely as possible. He would climb upon the willow branches and roots to get the best view. As it turns out, he was a local guy who like me, likes to hang out near the river whenever he can. He was wearing a very thin and worn out t-shirt that said something about the town of Jeffersonville on it. That’s the next town over from the Falls of the Ohio State Park. I mentioned something about the poor condition of his garment and how it didn’t look substantial enough to keep him warm. His response was that feeling warm was as much a mental state of mind and he was far too engaged by this novel environment to feel the cold.
The sun was rising. The day was warming and the ice was beginning to drip and lose its strength. Today’s show was at an end. The image of a hot cup of coffee or cocoa was starting to have great appeal to me and so I said my farewell to the Ice Tourist. Perhaps we will run into one another again at the river…we shall see? Leaving my new friend behind, I walked the riverbank and could see that the Ring-billed gulls that had been absent during the polar vortex were once again in residence in the park. I wonder if the groundhogs will see their shadows tomorrow?
The Potential in Everything
Posted in animal art works, Art, creativity, Green, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged Albertus Gorman, Art, art exhibition, artist at exit 0, Audubon art, Carnegie Center for Art and History, found materials, Indiana, New Albany, R. Michael Wimmer, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, The Potential in Everything, upscaled art on January 26, 2014| 26 Comments »
On January 24 our long-awaited exhibition at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana opened with a big reception. I say “our” because this is a two person show featuring work by R. Michael Wimmer and yours truly. The exhibition in entitled “The Potential in Everything” because both Michael and I utilize a diversity of materials to make our art. While I depend on what I find at the river, Michael goes much further afield to locate objects that project a certain “aura” and associative power for him. Following are some images from the exhibition which will be up until April 5.
I brought about 25 pieces that I had saved from the river and park visitors. I have gotten into the habit of keeping some of my better creations for events like this. It’s such a big leap first seeing the work at the river and then in a more formal art space where everything is displayed, labelled, and illuminated with care.
The other extreme is having several rooms full of friends, family, and assorted art lovers coming out on a very cold night to take in this exhibition. A wonderful jazz band provided music. At times, it was hard to see the art because of the people…which is a great situation to be in and I felt very lucky. I know I did a lot of talking and meeting people who said that they knew my work through this blog. This happened more than once and it made me feel good that local people were checking out my river adventures online every now and then. I returned to the center the following day so I could get a better look at the show and to take a few more pictures. Overnight, it snowed two to three inches while we slept.
Both Michael and my sculptures are assembled. He favors a wider variety of materials and I have over time evolved a vocabulary of forms and found materials that I prefer. The pieces I’ve saved function for me as mostly a means to an end. The story telling aspect of my work has been the biggest shift in what I do over the years and it has caused me to reassess my priorities when I go on location. I was pleased that people thought the stories added something extra to the artworks. Wall labels had excerpts from my river tales and I supplied a binder with printed stories that accompany many of the objects on display. It takes the pieces away from being strictly artworks as usual. I do, however, try to make compelling sculptures to help activate the spaces I work in and to assist in creating interesting images. The tall figure in the foreground is entitled “Cycladic Oarsman” and was made specifically for this show. I gave it this title because the face has some similarities with very early Greek marble statuary.
Karen Gillenwater, the Carnegie Center’s curator did a fine job of pairing artworks together and finding what Michael and I have in common artistically. Both of us have channeled John James Audubon and bird imagery. The naturalist’s earliest attempts at drawing birds happened in the Kentuckiana area during the early nineteenth century. Over the years I have made several Audubon figures and most of the birds I’ve created are creatures he never encountered in America’s pristine wildernesses.
The Styro-fish I’ve made stand near a wall piece that Michael did about the deteriorating marine environment where he lived for a while in Florida. My fish are made with some of the junk I’ve removed from the Ohio River. Michael now makes his home and studio in New Albany. Both of us are also fond of time references. My stuff flirts with time on a number of levels including quantum mechanics. Clock faces and dials appear in many of Michael’s Carnegie pieces and some of his sculptures are also working clocks. A good friend of mine once told me that much of life is what we decide to spend time on and that seems true for both artists in this exhibition. I appreciate that the Carnegie Center for Art and History believes it is important to generate good quality materials to help supplement an exhibition. The staff at the center produced a wonderful gallery guide, show announcement, a banner that hangs from the building’s facade, a poster, and both Michael and I have the opportunity to give gallery talks and lead workshops. I may never have a chance like this again where the hosting institution helps the artists out as much as the Carnegie Center for Art and History does. I know of many regional and local artists who feel that this is what makes showing at the Carnegie such a treat. The exhibition continues outside and both Michael and I have works positioned in front of the building. Here is Michael’s piece and all the work’s components find similarities with details and materials on the building.
My piece is my long, beaded necklace made from softball cores and is entitled “La Belle Riviere” which I originally displayed at the Falls of the Ohio in October of last year. It was quite a production and required a bucket truck and a worker supplied by the city to hang the piece in the tulip poplar tree outside the center. For now, I will close with this image and look forward to my next post as the Artist at Exit 0. Stay warm everybody.
Into the New Year, 2014
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature, Ohio River, recycled art, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, duck decoy, Falls of the Ohio, flotsam and jetsam, found objects, fresh water, Mr. Potato Head, nature, photography, plastic, Styrofoam, the river on January 5, 2014| 12 Comments »
Happy New Year everybody out there in blog land! I want to thank everyone over the past year who have dropped by to check out the latest from the Artist at Exit 0 at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. This year is shaping up to be much like the previous one. Which means both man and nature are predictably unpredictable with a sense of timing not easily plotted. Since the holidays, the Ohio River has been up and much of the park that I access has been underwater. That in itself is not news, but the length of time the water has been high has been. It all points to heavy rains and snows in the northern part of the Ohio River Valley and water flowing downriver. The forecast at the time of this writing is not encouraging with showers turning to snow today followed by a precipitous drop to sub-zero degree temperatures. This cold could be historic for us and so far we have received more snow than in recent winters. I think I will stay indoors today! Since my last post, I have been to the river twice (including New Years Day itself) to see what there is to see and experience. Here’s a synopsis so far.
Between rising and falling waters I have been able to skirt around the edges. One thing that unfortunately hasn’t changed is the junk in the river. I’m always interested in what gets stranded in the trees like this wooden pallet that has a corner delicately balanced on the surface of the river. It’s cold out here and despite being warmly dressed, my eyes and nose water from the bit of wind that is also present. 
At the water’s edge is a mix of debris. Most of it is natural with driftwood, wood bark and bits being the most prominent. Trees that have surrendered to the river are rolled against other logs by the waves and the grinding (which can be very audible as well) knocks the limbs off with a loud crack and chews the bark away from the trunks. Intermixed is various man-made and colorful junk that is mostly plastic in composition which also gets masticated by the river. The above photo is fairly typical with lots of polystyrene fragments which also make up the core of my art materials. Most artists have positive feelings for their materials, but I have a love /hate relationship with mine. Let’s move on and see what other sights are along the river in this new year. 
Floating tires always catch my eye. Their blackness and circular perfection contrasts sharply with the rest of the objects on the river’s surface. A short distance away from this wheel I find a dead steer at the water’s edge. 
I debated with myself whether to include this distasteful image in this post, but decided to do it since it represents some of the truth that is in the river. Pictures of man-made trash are one thing and have an almost benign aura to them by now, but something that was once alive registers in a different way. The gravity is far heavier. This poor cow is the largest dead animal I have encountered in the park. Dead deer and other smaller animals are not too unusual in the river. No telling how far this unfortunate animal has floated to arrive here? Rising high waters could once again carry it away. I take this picture and walk on. 
There are other objects that the river has delivered to the park like this plastic turtle sand mold. Having gone through my river collections recently I discovered that turtles are among the most common subjects for sand molds. Who knew? I have found six or seven of them and they are all different like the plastic hamburgers from a recent post of mine. Here’s something else to add to a growing collection. 
I have a Rubber Duck Collection as well and all found within the park. Truthfully, none of them are actually made from rubber and are of course composed from plastic. This is a hunter’s decoy of a pintail duck and would have been cooler had it been made out of wood…alas. I haven’t seen much of actual bird life in the park except for a few hardy species that are around all year round. I noticed that the ring-billed gulls that come here for the winter are not present. I wonder if the cold has them migrating further south this year? To mark how exceptional this winter has been, our area has seen a rare migration of snowy owls from the far north. The snowy owl is listed on the official Falls of the Ohio bird checklist as extremely rare and accidental. For me, this would be a good enough reason to journey here and this just might be the year to see one, but I haven’t heard if any were actually seen in the park? A short distance away from here, a snowy owl in a weakened condition was rescued by our local raptor rehab folks and is being nursed back to health.
Here’s a test for you. Do you know what this is? Time’s up…this is the plastic body of a Mr. Potato Head toy! I count Mr. Potato Head as one of my artistic influences for my Falls of the Ohio Styrofoam projects and this is the first one of these that I have found out here. According to Wikipedia, Mr. Potato Head has been in continuous production since 1952 (that’s a lot of plastic) and was the first toy advertised on television. I can remember as a kid…using actual potatoes to make funny faces and now I use Styrofoam.
I walked up the riverbank to access my outdoor atelier and discovered that the river has swept over it. All the materials that I had cached here over the last couple of years have floated away and the large logs that defined my space are rearranged. I will need to create a new studio if I continue here. I suspect, however, that the river is far from being done and would wager we will experience more flooding in the near future. I picked up a few small pieces of Styrofoam and willow sticks and made my first figure of the new year and posed him at the river’s edge as waves lapped the shoreline.
He is not a large figure and the expression on his face is one of amazement. I first posed him near the river in an old life-preserver that washed up. In addition to being expedient on a cold day it also seemed symbolic. For me, it always comes back to the river and its waters. The quality of our fresh water remains our number one vanishing resource and the river’s course is the journey we all take through life. I will continue to use my creativity at this one small spot on a large river and publish my results on this riverblog. Thanks for checking it out every now and then. As the year progresses, I hope to be like the river by being predictably unpredictable. May we all have a wonderful 2014!
Rudolph the Hex-bolt Nosed Reindeer at the Park of Misfit Toys
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, Ohio River, recycled art, unusual collection, tagged Absurd, Art, artist at exit 0, ecostory, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Misfit Toys, photography, plastic Santa Claus, plastic snowman, river story, Rudolph Christmas Classic, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer homage, warped Christmas story on December 23, 2013| 13 Comments »
Today is officially the first day of winter. At the Falls of the Ohio, the Ohio River is up due to the heavy rain producing thunderstorms that went through our region a couple of days a go. The high water has me walking the edge of the river with anticipation for signs of anything new. Today I find a story to share with you. While the winter solstice has passed, it also that Christmas/Holiday Season time again that seems to be getting longer and weirder with each passing year. As proof, I offer this variation of the beloved Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, classic Christmas television special that so many of us have enjoyed since childhood. This tale from a slightly different reality is set at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana and photographed on site using objects found within the park. Our tale begins at the water’s edge.
At this moment, Rudolph has no idea what has happened to him. He has no recollection of his near escape from the Abominable Snowman. He was lucky to find a piece of wood big enough to support his weight as he launched himself into the river. It is widely known that the Abominable Snowman is deathly afraid of water. While Rudolph was now safe from the snowman he had a river to negotiate and had no basic idea where he was going? Sometime in the middle of the night it stormed very badly and Rudolf was tossed helplessly into the water. Many weeks later and with the color washed out of his eyes…Rudolph was coming back to life.
Little Rudolph stood up again and propelled by instinct and memory headed down the driftwood line in search of a way home. Although he couldn’t explain it, there was some hard-wired, deep need to get back to where he originated like a salmon finding just the right stream. Along the way, a little bit more of what had happened to him crept into his consciousness. Images of cold white snow and a bearded man in a red suit began to drift across Rudolph’s mind with regularity. Rudolph still had no idea where he was and every once in a while he would come across something he could identify as being a toy in similar circumstances and he and would investigate it.
Most of the toys Rudolph encountered where too far gone to converse with and he left them behind. Every once in a while, however, Rudolph would come across other toys like himself who had a very strong need to exist. They used creative strategies to reinvent themselves. The first of these hybrid toys that Rudolph encountered were named Pigskin Pete and his pal Handy.
They were throwing a football back and forth on the sand. Rudolph approached them and the trio struck up a conversation. That is how Rudolph found out that they were in the Park of Misfit Toys. A fabled land purported to be a paradise for toys. Pigskin Pete and Handy both had fuzzy memories of distant lives that made them wonder if they in fact belonged here now? That’s when Rudolph made them the offer that if he could get out of this park…he would come back to get them. The little deer with the zombie eyes continued walking east along the river’s edge. After a journey of many hours, Rudolf met the Primate Twins for the first time.
The Primate Twins were a sight to behold! The will to exist among shampoo bottles is strong and through millions of gallons of waters these twin caps found their nearest relatives to form this plastic simian union. Rudolph told them of others that he has met along the journey and offered the twins the same offer he was offering everybody that if they could help him get out of the park that he would return to rescue them in return. The twins seemed intrigued and what were the chances of this happening anyway in the first place? Rudolph sallied forth to the limit of the park and met one last new friend.
RoboBoy lived at the land’s margin and knew the river’s ways too. He offered Rudolph a wooden plank to attempt the dangerous and potentially foolhardy journey back to the North Pole. If the river didn’t get him there was still the specter of the Abominable Snowman lurking out in the frozen wastes. Without hesitation and for the second time…Rudolph hurled himself into the cold river and took his chances. This time…luck would be kinder.
The trip across the waters was uneventful and gave Rudolph time to reflect. By now, he understood that his visions of a bearded man were of Santa Claus himself and Rudolph knew were to find him. Rudolph’s families were a part of the reindeer elite that pulled Santa’s sleigh. Those jobs flying across the sky had long been inherited positions and Rudolph…if he wanted it…was next in the long line of Prancers and Dancers.
Santa didn’t seem surprised to see Rudolph with his red plastic nose again. In fact, he said that he had been expecting him because the pull of Christmas is a mysterious force in the universe. Santa agreed to talk to Rudolph and around a small pine tree they huddled together to talk about what constituted the holiday spirit and other philosophical matters. While they spoke, a heavy snowfall fell upon the land.
By morning the snow had finished and Santa agreed to stop by the Park of Misfit toys and offer its inhabitants the chance of being gifted to different owners. Santa also told Rudolph to be prepared that toys often change their minds and that he might not get quite the answers as he did before.
Snow had fallen at the Park of Misfit Toys since Rudolph’s previous visit. A shadowy snowman figure agreed to escort Santa to the assembled Misfit Toys.
On the shores of the Park of Misfit toys Santa declared in full disclosure that he was glad to take anyone away from the park if that were their wish. He had made Rudolph a promise to help him keep his promise if possible and Santa Claus was going to honor that. But he also asked if anyone had considered how they had personally arrived at the Park of Misfit Toys? The prevailing myth is that all you toys were miss manufactured and dropped off here to lead your lives in semi-useful exile ever wanting the love of the other. The truth Santa declared…is that you were all discarded as trash…not even given the dignity of recycling…you somehow found your way into the river and then here. You are mass produced and marketed consumer goods that have served your useful lives and more than likely there will be no new owners waiting to embrace you on the other side of this park. He was speaking from personal experience which made his words all the more convincing.
Santa’s words had struck a chord with the Misfit Toys. They hadn’t even considered that they might not be wanted by somebody across the river. It was the Primate Twins who piped up that life wasn’t so bad here. At least they had their own culture as a community of survivors and free thinkers. Those that still had the desire to exist carried on until the sun finally broke the bonds of their plastic polymers and set them free. In the end, all the Misfit Toys decided to stay at the park and lead out their existences here and leave their layer in the record of the land.
Rudolph decided to return with Santa and the shadowy snowman to the North Pole. In the years to come, Santa and Rudolph the Zombie, Red, Plastic, Hex-bolt Nosed Reindeer were involved many Christmas season adventures. In fact, they went down in history. Happy Holidays from the Falls of the Ohio!
Plastic Meat
Posted in Absurd, Art, collections, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, recycled art, unusual collection, tagged absurdity, Art, artificial food, artist at exit 0, Collections, fake food, Falls of the Ohio, flotsam and jetsam, found objects, photography, plastic, plastic hamburgers, toy food on November 28, 2013| 20 Comments »
I have so much to be thankful for that I don’t need one particular day set aside to remind me of this. Nevertheless, I happily will take the next two days off from my day job, hang out with my family, eat, and of course… fiddle with my art projects! I have an exhibition coming up soon (late January 2014 at the Carnegie Museum of Art and History in New Albany, Indiana) and I have been going through my Falls of the Ohio river junk and thinking about what this show might feature of my work? It’s going to be a two-person show and so there will be a great space to fill.
I recently went through my various river collections including my Fake Food Collection which is ongoing and I have added many new pieces over the past year. The Ohio River has been bountiful in fact over a ten-year period, it has been a regular liquid cornucopia. Although I haven’t counted each item, I’ll wager my Fake Food Collection has about a couple hundred pieces now… all of it collected one piece at a time, off of the riverbank. It’s interesting to think of this stuff as being a part of the fake food tradition. I’ve seen examples of fake Japanese sushi that look amazingly like the real thing…but not at the Falls.
After all these years, I’m still blown away…perplexed…morbidly fascinated and repulsed…insert other adjectives here…that so much of this stuff exits and that most of it is made from plastic. I’m just one person living near a river in the interior of a big country and this is what I’ve found at this single location. Do other American rivers flow with plastic produce and is it all floating towards the oceans? It’s so curious that we use a natural resource like petroleum to produce artificial food even if it is intended to be playthings. It personally strikes me as an affront to nature especially once it materially starts breaking down and merging with the substrates we depend on. Perhaps some of you wordsmiths out there will put your finger on exactly why this stuff is so provoking?
Okay…enough of that, now where’s the beef? Where’s the plastic meat the title of this post promised? I was curious about that myself and so I went through my collection and this is what shook out. Bon appetite!
Since Thanksgiving here traditionally means roast fowl of some sort…I thought I would start with a couple of roasted birds and drumsticks. Of course these items are miniature and I realize that a coin for scale would help. Okay, I’ve found my ruler and if you must know…the biggest object in the above photo is 3.5 inches or 9 centimeters long. The middle drumstick on the bottom row has a dark patina acquired from spending much time in the river.
This last image of roast fowl looks like something (probably the family dog) tried to eat! Notice the teeth marks on the carcass. Now that we are done with the appetizer… let’s move on to the fake hamburgers and cheeseburgers. I know the old salivary glands are probably kicking in now!
Here’s a couple of shots of the items in question. In ten years time, the river has washed up and I have found seven cheeseburgers and hamburgers, three loose bun tops, and yes…two crinkle cut french fries (only one is shown) all are made of various plastic recipes. Several of the burger toys I’m pretty sure were intended as dog toys. Some of the them still have the little squeaker in the bottom bun. The others probably came from children’s play sets. As you can see…they are variously dressed with condiments and the buns go from plain to featuring sesame seeds in white, brown, and black colors. I have some individual burger portraits too. Here’s several examples of how you can have it your way. The larger burgers are roughly life-size to slightly smaller than the real deals.
Ahhh…a black poppy-seed bun heavy on the lettuce and tomatoes.
Here’s a plain bun, segregate the tomato on one side and the lettuce on the other option. The meat here is more of a textural suggestion.
This is a gaudy burger with hints of mustard and two layers of tomatoes!
Not sure if that’s melted yellow cheese or more mustard squeezing over the edge? Looks de-lish nevertheless! If you are wondering what artificial food looks like in a natural environment…here are a two images of plastic meat as I found them in place.
This one has white poppy seeds on the bun, frilly lettuce, and a nice grimy river patina. Let’s leave the burgers and head into new territory. First an image of our next plastic meat subset.
I can remember the joyful moment of finding this rare double score. Two conjoined, Siamese twin plastic hot dogs resting on a bed of Styrofoam and river sticks. Of course, I had to take a picture! Now, for a snapshot of my hot dog collection.
As you can see…these tube steaks and buns vary in size. The largest example at the very top has all of its paint gone, but you can see where a fake mustard squiggle would be. Perhaps some of them are actually intended to be Vienna sausages, but who knows? One particularly prized find is the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile whistle in the bottom right hand corner. I’ve propped it up on a plastic french fry to get a better side view. There are plastic meats that I know are out there (like fake steaks or even slices of plastic pizza with f aux pepperoni), but I have yet to find examples by the river. I do have a code I go by…unless I find it at the Falls of the Ohio…I won’t compromise my collection with non-Falls items. It’s a part of the quest and fun of what scrumptious simulacra will turn up next. Is Rack of Lamb or Pot Roast on the menu…only time will tell? For now, I will content myself with this Double Decker Dog…Happy Thanksgiving from the Falls of the Ohio.
Postscript: Less than a month after publishing this post…I found plastic hamburger combination #8 in the late December driftwood. Here’s a couple of images made in the field.
Golden Hour Ground Beetle
Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged Art, art and the environment, artist at exit 0, cottonwood tree, ecostory, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, ground beetle, insects, nature, nature story, odd insects, photography, recycled materials, Styrofoam, the golden hour, upscaled art on November 17, 2013| 9 Comments »
Moving past the Woodland Trail Loop, I’m in the western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. It’s been more than a month since I last visited this area. One of my favorite trees is here and although I’ve already missed the prime leaf color moment…I’m hoping some autumn splendor remains. Along my walk I come across a driftwood structure that has been stacked teepee-style by other park visitors. I see this kind of expression regularly and there must be a kinship between this activity and piling and stacking rock upon rock. It’s satisfying to do and when you step back from your work…it’s obvious you left an impermanent mark in the landscape that says you were there. The tree I seek is just a short walk away and in no time at all I arrive on the scene.
This old Cottonwood tree with its raised roots looms large in my imagination and is my personal favorite tree out here. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way because there is usually plenty of evidence laying around in the form of empty beer bottles, spent camp fires, and yes…the odd bits of furniture people drag to furnish the room that exists underneath the tree. I’ll wager for some…this is known as the party tree. I was elated to see that most of the junk (old tarps and a red couch) have been removed by some other purists. The Cottonwood tree had already dropped most of its leaves, but there were still a few hanging on. After resting a moment under the tree and admiring the distant view of Louisville across the Ohio River…I decide to turn for home. I was in the process of walking away when I noticed something moving along the fossil rocks. I froze to see if I could get a better look at the creature that was walking towards me. Naturally, my camera is at the ready!
Regular visitors to the Riverblog know that the Falls of the Ohio State Park is home to several out-sized insect species that have uniquely evolved here. All the different species are critically endangered and not to be harmed in any way. I was quick to identify this as the Golden Hour Ground Beetle. It was so named because it usually makes it first appearance of the day when the sun is about to set. Otherwise, it is nocturnal in its habits.
The Golden Hour Ground Beetle does not fly. It relies upon stealth and six strong legs to scramble across any surface. In form, it is not unlike the much smaller tiger beetles that also make the park their home. Unlike the smaller beetles, the Golden Hour Ground Beetle is a scavenger and not a hunter. I suspect this specimen was at the Cottonwood tree because it has learned to find scraps of discarded camping food here. This beetle has fairly large eyes that can gather the most meager light in the darkest of settings. It’s abdomen is banded with a coarse hair that insulates this insect during cold nights. As long as I didn’t make any rash movements, this giant bug was tolerating my presence.
I observed my new “friend” moving to the water’s edge to obtain a drink. I wondered if it had the ability to swim in its survival tool kit? I watched the insect as it searched all around the fossil rock shelves that were created by the river dissolving the old limestone away.
I came across a second giant beetle almost immediately after crossing the small creek that separates the western and eastern sections of the park. Male and females are virtually identical. There are gaps in our knowledge about their life cycle. This specimen was in the process of checking out a short, hollow log. I’m presuming that it was either seeking food or shelter? I think poking my camera through the end of the log spooked this one a little. It ran away, but didn’t go far. I kept my movements to a minimum and after a while it seemed to relax again.
I observed this 14 inch or 35.5 centimeter beetle relaxing on the exposed roots of a Sycamore tree. As the golden hour approached, the beetle stopped seemingly acknowledging this magic moment when everything is bathed in a warm golden light. I did the same watching the sun set before finding my vehicle in the parking lot of the Interpretive Center. To everybody in the wider world…have a great week.
Through the Willow Portal
Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artistatexit0, autumn, dead mouse, ecostory, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found art materials, melancholy, nature, nature story, outdoor art studio, photography, public art, sense of place, Styrofoam, willow leaves, willow tree on November 9, 2013| 14 Comments »
A gorgeous fall day with light that was almost impossibly bright. It’s autumn at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. Small groups of migrating birds including various warblers, titmice, and kinglets are moving through the willow tops. Around each stand of willow trees, the ground is covered by yellowing leaves that have been recently dropped. There is a fresh, spicy, vegetative fragrance in the air as the more recently shed leaves give up their essence before curling up and turning brown. Although I have been to the Falls numerous times lately… it’s been a few months since I last visited my old outdoor atelier in the woods. Today seems as good a time to check out how my site has fared in my absence.
The wooden structure that once surrounded my cached materials remains collapsed. Some of the larger pieces of Styrofoam I had gathered from the river have been moved nearby. Stuff has been scattered around, but that is also part of the ongoing history and fate of this material. I may refer to this junk as “mine”, but I don’t feel a true sense of ownership. While this material remains out here…it belongs to all of us. We created, used, and then disposed of it, often carelessly. I don’t have a lot of time to spend out here on this particular day and so I got busy making “something” from this largess. I select a few chunks of polystyrene that will become my latest figure and before long I attract an audience of one.
This Gray Squirrel seemed very intent upon my activities. Perhaps he thought there might be food involved? I have to say that I was really amused by this little animal checking me out. He watched me for a minute or two and then headed deeper into the trees.
The figure I created was not very complex. It’s head was rather skull-like and so I added a found black and white swimming noodle and a pink nose that was the plastic handle to something to give it more “levity”. One of the first places I posed my latest was by the larger remains of former projects that were moved away from the other Styrofoam pieces I had assembled. It doesn’t appear that whomever moved this stuff…did anything else with it.
Coming across a late season mushroom, its whiteness and material consistency reminds me of the polystyrene I salvage to make art with. Both the mushroom and Styrofoam are made from extracted, spent life. The difference is the mushroom is alive and one day will also return to the earth to nourish other life. The Styrofoam on the other hand, is a dead material and probably won’t decompose easily for quite a long period of time. To move away from thoughts about decay and such…I move into the light and to be near the water.
It doesn’t take long before I find just the right location that will represent this figure and day to me in photographs. I rediscover an especially picturesque willow tree whose trunk and roots have been sculpted by time and the river to form a portal or window. This is where I decided to photograph and leave this figure.
Because the ground was muddy and soft…it was also easy to stand my figure upright. My attention wandered back and forth between the possibilities this novel view afforded. I imagined the figure looking back at me through the portal and other shifting points of view. Here’s how the figure looked set up on the other side where I once originally stood.
The day was getting late and it was time for me to move on. On the walk back I came across a recently deceased mouse in the willow leaves. Something about this season brings out the melancholy in me. All life, no matter how small, strikes me as being worthy of note. Using my fingers, I raked the willow leaves away from the mouse’s body and created this parting image. See you next time from the Falls of the Ohio.
Happy Halloween from the River’s Edge
Posted in Absurd, art and environment, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, Green, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, found materials and objects, Halloween, photography, plastic, plastic jack-o-lantern, recycled art, river junk, strange hat, Styrofoam, unusual head gear, witch cup on October 31, 2013| 12 Comments »
For a few hours more it’s Halloween in Kentuckiana. With a tornado watch in the air and rain for certain, it’s not boding very well for the actual observance. Sorry about that kids. It does seem to me that the actual going door to door and collecting candy is not the same prized occasion it used to be. It seems these days (and here’s where I start sounding old) every holiday has candy and it’s not as special as it used to be. Halloween is becoming more of an indoor activity with parties replacing the ceremonial wearing out of the shoe leather. Still there are decorations and costumes to carry on the tradition. While making my rounds at the Falls of the Ohio State Park…I keep my camera and collecting bag ready for any Halloween related or other spooky items. Among the more common Halloween finds are these plastic jack-o-lanterns. The bigger ones are used for actual candy collecting and the smaller pieces are novelties for the table. Here are a couple more the river has washed up.
Of course, all these novelties are made from discarded plastic which may turn out to be the scariest thing of all. Walking near the river’s edge, I will often be startled by sights of a spectral nature. The ghosts of objects and functions past hang mournfully from the branches of the willow trees. Observe these two ghostly images…if you dare.
During one recent high water moment along the river’s edge…I spotted what appeared to be “something” hanging upside down from a tree branch. It was animated, black, and hairy and after snapping a quick photo…I got out of there. In the back of my mind the words “cat demon” formed. I didn’t want to hang around and find out more. The hairs on arms were standing straight up! Judge for yourself.
Today we had a Halloween party at the art program that I manage. Needing a costume I had to do some quick overnight thinking and making…which often produces interesting results. How many times has having a deadline served you well? Looking at the river junk I have saved at my house…I created this head-gear? or weird sculptural hat to fill the bill. Here’s my “costume” photographed against a black cloth that makes it look like an art object. Imagine wearing this on top of your head!
The foundation is the Styrofoam shell of an old bicycle helmet. The effigy head is actually recycled from an old, now destroyed sculpture I made and left on site at the river. After the rest of the body fell apart…I wandered bye and salvaged the head since it was still in good shape. I had no idea what I would do with this head…until this opportunity presented itself. The eyes are plastic bottle caps from old dish washing detergent bottles. The red mouth is more waste plastic as is the yellow hand on top. The arms, nose, and ears are wood bits. The neck (which you can’t see very well in this image) is a polystyrene mushroom. The bungy cord which forms a chin strap, is the only element that did not come from the river. I have a beaver-chewed willow stick running through the head and into the base. A little glue holds it all together. If one can “prize” finding discarded Styrofoam…then I confess to liking the shells from old bicycle helmets. I have used several over the years to make various turtle and tortoises. Here’s an example that became the basis for my Cottonwood Turtle story from a few years back.
Well, it’s time to call it a day. Just a few intrepid souls in costumes made it to the door on this dismal night. They were well rewarded with chocolate and bubble gum. To close, here’s one final image from the river…what would Halloween be without witches and here’s one of the best. Trick or Treat from the Falls of the Ohio.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 