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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Art as a Frame, more art park, thank you

A dominant feature in the NC Museum of Art's Park is Gyre, 1999 by Thomas Sayre (American born 1950). I have photographed this work which consists of 3 ellipses before and posted a photo I took, some time ago on my blog. However, in the past I have concentrated on the shadows which are cast by the ellipses and photographed it as a whole work (shot included all 3 arcs). When I was at the park this week, it was completely overcast and the sun wasn't out to cast shadows. I found myself photographing the individual ellipses and in so doing I realized that they serve as a nice frame for the landscape.Each one frames an area on either side and I found it interesting to look at that and surprised that I had never done that before. In order to create this enormous sculpture, the artist developed a method of earth casting. A backhoe dug out the shapes in the ground and a mixture of concrete and iron oxide was poured directly into the trenches which were inlaid with steel bars. After curing for a month, a crane lifted each of the concrete forms up and lowered them into their positions.
To get a sense of their scale, the shot above is of the three arches with the art museum in the background. Although it's pretty dark, I think you can see how small the museum looks behind the arches. I enjoyed looking at the Gyre in a completely different way without my focus being on the impressive shadows they cast when the sun is out.The shot above gives a sense of how the Gyre fits into the landscape of the open part of the art park. The art park has a number of different habitats: forest bottomland, house creek, pond, prairie, and upland forest. My last post featured some of the art in the forest portion of the park. In addition to information on the man made art, there are signs to identify the birds, plants, trees, insects, etc. in areas of the park and they have some good programs for children.I think it is interesting that the museum is creating opportunities for artists, architects, landscape architects and environmental scientists to collaborate on projects in the park. A current project involves redesigning the pond and an artist is working with water quality engineers to create a new pond that cleans storm water, has space to hold groups for educational purposes, and stands on its own as art. I did snap a picture of the current pond but it wasn't a very good one so I'll have to go back as the new project unfolds and snap some more of the pond.Last but not least, thank you to Kat's Krackerbox for mentioning me for the E for Excellent blog Award. I posted about the Excellent blog award once before when Startinesky (another blogger whose site I enjoy) passed it on to me. I appreciated Kat mentioning me for it too, and wanted to say thank you. Kat participates in Weekend Snapshot one of the photo memes I participate in and I enjoy visiting her WS posts.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carver, you are so welcome and deserving of it! The pictures are amazing! Have a great day!

Smalltown RN said...

That was very interesting Carver.....and I like how you obtained photos from a variety of angles it really give you an appreciation for what was created...

Dee said...

Wow, Carver! It was an interesting series of photos of the Gyre and I especially appreciated how you gained a different perspective on the sculpture because there was NO sun. It's a good reminder for me to learn how to step back and look at something (a problem or a piece of art) in a new way. I especially liked the framing part of the sculpture and it was interesting to see the dark photo that showed the three ellipses with the museum in the background - what I liked is how the three fit inside one another when viewed from a distance. It fools the idea - when I first saw it, I thought the smaller one was closer, but when I looked at it again, I realized that it was farther away - distance giving perspective on size and all that. Well, not sure if that last phrase made sense, so I hope you get the picture.

Dee said...

I meant, "it fools the eye" not "fools the idea". I think my fingers are channeling my chemo brain!! LOL

Carver said...

Thanks Kat, I appreciate that. I hope you've had a great day too.

Thanks Smalltown RN, It was fun trying the different angles and it did make me appreciate the work in a way I didn't before.

Thanks Dee, You make perfect sense to me. I actually liked the phrase it fools the idea. I fool my ideas a lot, ha. Seriously though I agree with what you were saying and you articulated it better than I can, chemo or not.

Miss Melanoma said...

Glad to hear it was nothing but great news from the derma! Congrats on another 6 months! Love the Gyre, too, btw.

Take care,
MM

Carver said...

Thanks Loris (Miss M), Great hearing from you. Hope you are in good health and spirits. As ever, Carver

eastcoastlife said...

Oh my! This art is so cool! I love the frames on the landscapes! How I wish I could visit them and take photos of me in the frames! hehe....

Dee said...

Well, you and I (and everyone else, for that matter, if they wish) can all fool our ideas!

I think you articulated things just fine . . . I just wish that I could capture images with a camera like you do. Maybe someday, when my son is older!

Carver said...

Hi Eastcoastlife, I'm sure you'd look great inside the gyre as a frame.

Hi Dee, I know what you mean about photography when your son is older. The only photography I did when my daughter was young involved pictures of her dancing and running around.

SabineM said...

I dreamed that I met you Carver. SO weird!
Love the photos! I am really thinking I need to make a trip to see you! ;-)
But instead I am off to Vegas for two days! ;-)
happy Easter!

Carver said...

Hi Sabine, Have a great trip and a Happy Easter. That is so funny about the dream. I hope we get to meet too!

AscenderRisesAbove said...

I bet the sculpter liked that you took photos from so many angles as well; as that is what he/she hoped for?


ascenderrisesabove.com/wordpress

Christy Woolum said...

This is a unique way of catching photo images. You have once again inspired me.

Carver said...

Thanks Ascender and Inland Empire Girl, I appreciate your comments.

escape said...

wow! i imagine one thing. the movie Stargate.