So this is where I did my project. It's the Reedy Creek entrance to the James River.
As I walked from the parking lot, across the railroad tracks and through the the gate, I picked up whatever earth materials were around. I carried some in my hands and put the rest into these glass bottles. The bottles are "found art." The third bottle from the left, what I call the pirate booze bottle, I found on Wreck Island off the eastern shore of VA. My class was doing an International Coastal Clean-up and the bottle was full of sand, shining like a oil spill in a dune. The little, squat one on the right I found off Fitzhugh Avenue along the banks of Horsepen Branch during the Extreme Stream Makeover clean-up and restoration project in October. It was 99% drown in mud but I saved it and brought it home with me. Interestingly, I found more abandoned glass while I was setting this up (I saved it too, just in case you're wondering).
I collected the rocks and pebbles from the railroad tracks and grasses from the open area before the woods where I picked up some leaves. The clover was growing in a little spot along the bank. The twigs and branches I found by climbing around. The pirate booze bottle is full of sand from the creek's edge and the squat bottle is full of dirt, just as they were.
The idea for this project came from many of my environmental science classes. The idea is basic: everything weathers to base level. In reality, this is often the ocean because base level=sea level or the point at which you can't go further down. So this project is pretty simple. I'm representing base level as the creek/river. But realize even this area is connected the ocean.
This is my final project:
My favorite angle: the view as the movement towards the water.
The breakdown:
The breakdown:
I took my bottles home but I did end up leaving everything else-mostly for the curious kayakers who watched me playing in the dirt, "making art."
3 comments:
Nice movement Amanda. I would have liked to have seen some reference to the text here. Also, how long were you there? I would like to hear more about the kayakers' interaction ...
Amanda...that is some great work putting togetherodds and ends that you found around the shoreline. The rocks in the bottle is a really nice touch! How far is this again...it looks like it's definitely worth checking out!
I couldn't find anything in the book that related to this. There's repetition but no ritual element, I interacted with the earth but not in a performance, whole mind-body integration thing - nothing just seemed to connect. I don't know, I guess there just wasn't an element of mystery and hidden meaning to this project.
I was there for about 45 minutes. I just took the first exit off Belvidere after the river and drove past the 42nd street entrance to the next public access.
And the kayakers weren't terribly interested in me, I guess they're just not used to seeing people there. One guy asked me what I was doing, I told him and he said "that's interesting" and everybody else just nodded, watched me dig in the sand for a coupld seconds and turn away. Nobody seemed upset, surprised or incredibly interested, just minor curiousity. I guess they would have asked "where are you from?" "what school is this for?" if I'd encouraged more conversation.
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