"Hippy Statues"

Day 7 (5/18/10)

I didn’t really go out on the trail today, but had a student who commented on my sculptures. She told me how when out bike riding with her dad she had seen my “Hippy Statues”. She didn’t mean anything mean-spirited by it but yet again I was surprised at how people perceive things. Why does one immediately make a connection between cairns and Hippies or Satanist? Why don’t people see it as art for art’s sake or just recreation? As always, I am just happy that they had opened a dialogue. I am hoping to show the student some of Andy Goldsworthy’s art. Whenever I look at his work I am impressed. Not only do I appreciate the amount of detail and complexity of his work but it just makes me smile. The whimsical character and relationship to the environment just seem to meld. I have included some images of my favorites.

Last Sunday we did go for a ride along the northern route. Since it was very busy we didn’t get a chance to do any building. Again, we were impressed by the building of others. It would appear that at least on a small scale I have started the ball rolling and with some continued prompting may get this to catch on. Maybe, I may even reach my original goal of one hundred sculptures standing. Unlike Goldsworthy’s, which is a very personal thing, I am trying to encourage participation.

Goldsworthy’s work.

Check out Goldsworthy's work. It is great.

Mothers Day

Day 6 (5/9/10)

After a very frosty night, it warmed up to 59 degrees by one o’clock. It has been so busy that we haven’t had a chance to get out on the trail since March. I had hoped to have done a lot more building by now. In spite of a cool wind we decided to celebrate Mothers day on the trail. We noticed a couple of areas where people had been building including one very cool anamorphic build. I was rather small but looked kind of like a dinosaur made out of rock. We also came across a family with some kids that were adding on to “Prairie Memorial”. I only did one build at the old “Flow” site.

Back to Building

Day 5 (3/24/10)

It was kind of a cloudy, chilly day for biking but a great day for building. At first we were kind of worried how much time we would have to build. In spite of it being cool and a Wednesday the trail was somewhat busy. But as we rode we found ways to separate ourselves from the others. We took a couple of side excursions which allowed us some windows of opportunity. We noticed some of our builds from last year still standing or at least partially standing. I think maybe we have had some help by others. I noticed that the “Tripod” had some stones on it that weren’t there the last time I saw it. If that continues I will make my life easier and more interesting. Since “Prairie Memorial” was partially standing we decided to spend a little time rebuilding it. We didn’t spend a lot of time on it because we saw some people coming down the trail. We also started rebuilding “Flow” but again we had to run off when we saw approaching bikers. As I have mentioned before stealth is not as important as it used to be but we still avoid being caught as much as possible. It adds to the challenge and, I think, the mystical quality of the art. We also found some new areas that we worked on. In both cases they were off the trail and on the other side of water. We are hoping that will help with the longevity of the pieces. One of them we build in kind of a park like area that has a lot of potential for the future. The other one is in a natural grotto in a tree trunk. Again we had limited time for building but at least it gives us something for the future.

First Bike Ride

Day 4 (3/22/10)

Today we went for our first bike ride of the year. It was in the low 50’s but sunny. We decided to go south and check out the tie build we had built the last time out. I was happy to see it was still standing. I would like to add to it but at least for a while it is too wet to get to. That should keep it from getting knocked over. At first it seemed like we were the only ones out but as soon as we were ready to start building the trail got busy. We did manage to build one small cairn in a neat little park area. I want to go back to that area some time when there is less activity on the trail.

Signs of Spring

Spring Fever

Day 3 (3/7/10)

We were having one of the first forty plus degree days in months so decided to hit the trail. We were concerned about bare spots in the snow so we chose to walk instead of ski. As it turned out we probably could have skied but as it was we had more opportunity to build. Perhaps it was spring fever or the warm weather, but whatever the reason, when the opportunity to build presented itself we started building. Much of the material was still covered or froze down but we made use of what we could get. There were many signs of spring, including green grass sprouting under some of the ties we moved and even a Red Wing Blackbird. It had been a good winter but it is time of year where I am ready for spring. I can’t wait for my first bike ride down the trail.

Going south

Day 2 (2/28/10)

We had another opportunity to get out on the bike trail. The weather was warm, high thirties, but overcast. We decided to try going the other direction towards town. One of the biggest surprises of the day was coming across some flying insects. I had just skied through a patch of grass when I noticed them fly up. At first I thought it was just a seed pod but then I noticed they were actually flying around. Had it been sunny I would had been less surprised. I was also pleasantly surprised to find “Dangler” still standing. There were also a couple of cairns still standing in various states of repair. It won’t be long now until it will be biking season again.