More on boundaries
First test to complete “Echoes of the Island” at the Vinalhaven Ferry Terminal in collaboration with Hugh Martin June 7, 2022.
I am preparing to complete a public artwork for the ferry. In 2002, I created a couple boulder sculptures at the local terminal. At the time, I painted onto the rock with the same casein blue I had experimented with elsewhere, a mostly linear patterned impression of waves and plants. The paint eventually faded, though the memory informed The Blued Trees Symphony, and for many years, I hoped to complete the work by incising into the granite and filling the incisions with blue ground glass. Last summer, I connected with Hugh Martin, a stoneworker to finally complete that work, and we have been researching, experimenting, testing and considering our materials and approach ever since. This week we finally had a chance to experiment on one of the rocks in my garden before we go back to the ferry.
By mid-morning yesterday, the work on the rock was literally over-shadowed by the foliage in my garden. That won't be an issue at the ferry but in my garden it's another thing I find really interesting because it made the marks we made the day before, even more mysterious. I love the idea and effect of an ephemeral image, especially if it's going to be inflected by time of day and weather as this will be.
After the first day of work I wrote:
We completed the first tests on my own rocks in my garden before we work on the bigger rocks down at the ferry. This is something I've been thinking about for at least twenty years finally coming to fruition. When the glass sets tomorrow I can pour water over the work to wash away remaining granite dust and get a better impression of what we did today.
Hugh made the first cuts into the granite where I made charcoal lines. I made lines that go with the grain of the rock. The curves I want are difficult to cut and I'm not sure how perfect I want it to look.
We filled the incised lines with clear resin mixed with fine grained ground Royal blue recycled glass. I went in with larger pieces, embedding them in the still soft resin, to catch the light differently.
We ran out of resin to finish the last line coming up from the bottom right but I sort of liked the unfilled suggestiveness of the line without color.
We plan to add a second layer so that the color is flush with the uncut stone. I also experimented with embedding coarser pieces of glass to catch more of the light. I'll know more after I can wash it down tomorrow.
The next day I ordered the rest of the materials we will need: several different shades of color and different coarseness of texture. The finer material is hard to get now due to supply chain issues but we will have enough to complete the work. Some of the coarser pieces will be set manually. Today and for several days, it’s raining. So next week is the earliest we could resume work. Meanwhile, the resin will continue to set, the rock will continue to be washed.
I have been thinking a lot about the relationship between making this kind of work and the larger systems analyses I am better known for pursuing, for example about ecocide. The contrasts confuse some people. For me, it’s all about contemplation. I want to invite people into my contemplative practice as much as I want them to take considered actions that heal dysfunction and degradation. In effect, I am marketing and selling a point of view.
In a recent exchange about marketing, as I contemplated how to explain the connections between marketing-sales and education to others I wrote:
Marketing has a bad name. Generally, marketing is associated with hawking commodities we don’t need that clutter up our environment. In the artworld, it is associated with egocentric narcissism- very tiresome. But in a workshop I took with Creative Capital https://creative-capital.org/ several years ago, marketing was explained as an extension of teaching, which most artists have always done one way or another. It comes down to show (in the sense of drawing attention to what I need to teach) don't tell (as in trying to control outcomes and act entitled). Doing marketing as teaching feels like a hard sell because I think our culture almost demands egotism, self-centeredness, competitiveness and narcissism to get what we want.
I think a different attitude from artists as much as “consumers or audiences,” demands a lot of honesty, clarity, openness, courage and even humility to go about these relationships as experiences of sharing value vs taking what we want or need at the expense of others. So, for me, the part I'm entitled to is support & appreciation when I create something of value to others, including the financial support I need to continue my practice but that as a result of what I'm generously willing to explain about what motivates me. Part of what makes that hard for younger artists is that there are a lot of predatory people ready to steal from the vulnerable. So another point is that it comes down to first establishing or being part of a safe platform before you share. It helps to have a measure of notoriety that encourages people to follow and identify what one does. I’m working on that.
The boundary for me is just to know there will always be an exchange if I’m willing to participate. The rocks at the edge of the riparian zone, mnemonic contemplation vs actions, these are all negotiated constantly fluid relationships in complex adaptive models.