Striding Arches

I't's refreshing to discover a community arts project that has satisfied it's aims. Last year at this time I was in south-west Scotland where I visited Cairnhead Community Forest. There, a number of artist installations are the focus of an effort to bring the public into the landscape by the Forestry commission Scotland.

"Striding Arches" by Andy Goldsworthy is the signature piece of the effort. Each arch, weighing approximately 27 tons, is 12' high, with a span of 22'. They are dry-laid constructions made up of 31, hand-dressed, red sandstone blocks. The arches are set in prominent hilltop locations. A hike to visit one arch offers views of two others. The arch pictured here was unique in that it was incorporated into a disused stone barn. Surrounding stone walls were revitalized as part of the installation.

A collections of trusts, commissions, councils, arts associations and individuals came together to make the project happen. Cairnhead Community Forest is a fine example of of what can be achieved by blending art into landscape, and vice versa.

Learn how to build a dry-laid stone wall

Stone Wall Building Workshop

Parmelee Farm, 465 Rte. 81, Killingworth, CT

Contact: Michelle Becker at 860-322-0060 or by e-mail at: mb@mbeckerco.com

May 15-16, 2010

9 am - 4 pm

Tuition: $300

Contact Michelle Becker @ 860-322-0060 or mb@mbeckerco.com

Workshop announcement from Michelle:

In what will be the second in a series of educational workshops that promote the arts, cultural heritage and agriculture, the Parmelee Farm will host a workshop on the ancient craft of dry stone wall
building.

Experts in their field, Dan Snow and Andrew Pighills return to teach a two-day weekend long workshop on the art of dry stone wall building on May 15 and May 16, 2010 at the Parmelee Farm in Killingworth.

Participants will learn the basic principles of wall building, from establishing foundations, to the methods of dry laid (sometimes called dry-stacked) construction and ‘hearting’ the wall as well as more advanced instruction on building a stile, gateway, and lunkie in the wall. This hands-on workshop will address not only the structure and principles behind wall building but also the aesthetic considerations of balance and proportion.

As part of an ongoing process to preserve the site’s heritage and restore it’s historic integrity the upcoming Dry Stone Walling workshop builds on the success of last Fall’s workshop.

Italian Underground

I'm still basking in the reflective light of my recent trip to Italy. Writing one more post about the Etruscans will help keep the glow lit a little longer. Besides, maple sugaring hasn't been anything to write home about. Unusually warm days, and nighttime temperatures above freezing, has meant zero sap flow. Maybe this week will bring back more seasonable weather.

In the 1950 and 60's excavations took place outside the city of Tarquinia that revealed burial chambers from the 4th and 5th century BC. Nineteen of them are now open to public viewing. The tombs were carved in the limestone bedrock deep below the surface of the ground. Frescoes on the walls and ceilings are in some cases as fresh and lively looking as the day they were painted.

As interesting as the archaeological findings are, I was especially drawn to the manner in which they were made accessible. There's a peculiar kind of architecture that often develops around the display of ancient artifacts. It tries to be unobtrusive while satisfying the needs of a high volume of pedestrian traffic. At Tarquinia, sloping entry halls were created by cutting a shaft in the bedrock and covering it with a tile roof. A chimney exhausts humidity. At the bottom of the staircase a glass panel separates the viewer from the tomb interior. A light switch on a timer allows the viewer to briefly illuminate the tomb.

Some Upcoming Workshops

Many of you have written asking about upcoming workshops - please see below for my current workshop schedule.

Please contact the sponsors listed below to register. Hope you can join us!

CONNECTICUT
Parmelee Farms, Killingworth
May 15-16
Contact info:
Michelle Becker
P: 860-322-0060
mb@mbeckerco.com

VERMONT
Scott Farm
May 29-30
Contact info:
Kelly Carlin
P: 802.254.6868
kellyc@landmarktrustusa.org.

VERMONT
Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio Workshop
Saxtons River
July 22 - 25
Contact info:
P: 802.869.1470
F: 802.869.1471
info@jmmds.com

CANADA
English Harbour Arts Centre
English Harbour, Newfoundland
August 2-6 and 16-20
Contact Info:
Jack Stanley, Manager
P: 709.464.2424
Toll Free: 1.866.456.2424
jstanley@bellnet.ca

Sliding Into Spring

This week I've been in our sugarbush hanging sap buckets, 215 so far. That may be as many as I put out this season. Our Windham County, Vermont property is typical of the region; rugged and steep. Covered in wet snow, as it is now, it's especially slippery. There are always more maples I could tap but getting close to them with the loader and gathering tank is the problem. Not to mention the precarious nature of totting pails full of sap across frozen side-hill. Maple sugaring; all the thrills and spills of a three ring circus.

Last week I was up to my ankles in sticky mud on a very different side-hill, one in Tuscany. I was assessing a property for possible stone art sites. On the first day I clambered down a stream bed and up a wooded draw, getting a perspective on the place and surroundings. After speaking with the property owners about their future plans, including the planting of a vineyard and olive grove, I developed two ideas for incorporating dry stone in the landscape. For the next day and a half I worked up scale models out of stone and mud. I find that sketching three-dimensionally helps me think through the process of designing an art work. The practical considerations inform the abstract ones, and vise versa. The model in the photo, above, was made to illustrate the idea of using a spiraling stone and wood ramp as a way to move vertically in the landscape.

The property owners are in the process of transforming the ruin of an old grain mill into a home for themselves. The roof had to be stripped off and new "old" timbers added. The head carpenter on the site cleans up a purlin beam with his bill hook, photo below. 

Another worker operates the overhead crane used to lift materials from the ground to the roof.

Over the three days I spent on site I was able to watch a fascinating construction, and de-construction process. A building that has undergone centuries of use and reuse, is once again re-purposed.

Etruscan Ruins

Defining an ancient civilization by the way it buried its dead is like summing up an individual's life by describing the way he or she died. Its not a very comprehensive story. But in the case of the Etruscans we can make a good guess about the way they lived because they sent their dead off to a world they hoped would be similar to the one they'd departed. Even with funerary objects being the only things we have to judge them by we can be sure the Etruscans had a pretty good time while here on earth. Paintings on tomb walls depict gala parties. Finely crafted housewares and adornments were placed next to and on the bodies of the deceased, ready for use, if only symbolically, in the next life. Archaeological excavations in many parts of Italy have uncovered fantastic examples of tomb architecture. The Necropolis at Cerveteri, 30 miles northwest of Rome, is a wonderland of carved and built stone tombs. Wandering through acres of cemetery, laid out like a city full of streets and houses, I felt like a visitor in the dream of an Etruscan's after-life.