During the few weeks leading up to install, I was worried that I didn’t have enough rocks, that too many of them were cracking, and that the rods bod would turn out too pink instead of an appropriate rock tone. When the rocks finally came out of the kiln, it felt like it all fell together perfectly. The sharpies wrote well and the people writing on the rocks said it was a therapeutic experience. The rocks stacked really easily and were therapeutic for me.
I crocheted mats for the stacks to sit on using Jasmine Star Stitch in the round, using Lion Brand homespun, in the color herb garden. When I went to buy enough yarn, I almost started hyperventilating because the colorway was sold out of everywhere so I added an accent colorway called “fiesta” that was more colorful than the green- ness of herb garden. The mats turned out really playful and fun and helped separate the stacks from the floor. They made a good addition to the rest of the project.
If I could have done something different, I would have crocheted a few more small mats to add extra spots of “moss” connecting the stacks on the gallery floor. I also think it would have been a good idea to create a bunch of the smaller river stone style rocks for attendees of the show to write on themselves. It was really easy for my participants to write on the rocks and since they had a good experience doing so, it would have been nice to bring that to other people as well.
I like the way the work is progressing but it needs to progress faster. I think before NCECA/spring break I’m going to make as many medium-sized rocks as possible and then make a ton of small ones afterwards so they can dry faster than the others. I started to pinch the forms instead of building them soft slab which feels better to me and is more normal to the way I make my cups. I need to vary the rough and smooth textures more because I’ve been forgetting to use the rough. I also want to continue working more and more with the marbled clay because I love the way the patterns of the carving can be shaped in the lines within each rock.
I still want to have enough time to display the finished cairns in a green space, probably on the north or south ovals (probably north), but Bob made a good suggestion about drawing what that might look like to print in the capstone book. I draw these things enough that once I get a good idea of what they might look like in my version, it would be pretty easy to show what I would want for their integration into an environment.
Abbie suggested that instead of having people write on the rocks, that the firsthand accounts could go on the ground surface to show the actual path. I like the way I imagined the stories being wrapped around the texture and the rocks and intertwined up the cairn though. It also doesn’t stress me out as much as I was thinking it might to have other people write over my actual work. Like Bob and Christy pointed out, even if they mess up and have to cross stuff out, it still works conceptually with the idea of being lost and trying to find your way. And the way this relates to career feels really nice to me, like you can put al the blood, sweat and tears into something but at the end you just have to let that work speak for itself and take a leap of faith.
I think some of the questions stemmed from the worry that these cairns might not be able to speak for themselves. That they might need to be accompanied by written words in a book, or video interviews, or process videos, or audio interviews in order to be understood. I guess I won’t be able to tell until they’re done though, so I might collect that video/audio/written data throughout the process and if they can’t stand on their own (lol) I’ll reevaluate then.
I’ve finished 5 rocks. Two of those have major cracks, but they’re still structurally pretty sound. They’re all in different stages of drying.
Today in critique I brought up ideas of ideas of ideas branching off of creating these graffiti-pop cairns. I want to take them into a public outdoors space like the North Oval after they’re done and place them and then get in a hammock and observe, via camera, whether people come up to interact with them or not. Bob asked whether the pictures would be documentation, or more art. I need to think about it more but I feel as if I would prefer the act of placing them and seeing whether people interact with them as art and the pictures are documentation of the art. Because my initial desire for this project was the interaction, and any pictures I take of that occurring in a natural environment wouldn’t need to be attached to the cairns.
The other thing I brought up during critique was the possibility of painting on those ceramic tiles that Kelley and Jasmine got for me. Of turning them into the documentation for the cairn interactions. But I think that needs to be separate. Because I feel like that’s really confusing otherwise and obscures what I want to do.
I think this project will move faster once I’m done with the bigger rocks. There will still be some bigger rocks later but they’ll be more of a small base/tall rock scheme. I was sketching cairns last night and it reminded me of all the variations between the rock cairns I’ve seen and it makes excited for all the types of rocks that I can make for this project. Like I saw one set of cairns that were all smooth, sea-tossed stones and I wonder if I should be trying to make the same kinds of differences for this project. I can try my best without creating a set of stones that would topple even if wet clay was sticking them together. I just want it to feel authentic so I need to vary the types of rocks I’m creating more to help with that. They don’t need all the same texture/slip combinations and shape and construction. I need to be looser in my building.
I am light when I play with my puppy, when I see the smile on someone else’s face, when my favorite song comes on the radio. I am light when I sing in the shower and when I drive in the car with my windows down and when I take an afternoon nap in the sunlight after a long morning. I am light when I’m playing, when I’m trying to beat my friends at silly games with made-up rules and no defined logical support and I am light when I am alone, when I’m reading or crocheting or messing with my hair. I am light when I receive kindness from a stranger or when I am kind to myself. I am light when I remember there are reasons to laugh.
You are light
You are light when you relax, when you forget about essays and deadlines and when you keep working on the things you love and don’t pay attention to the things you don’t. You are light when you flip through magazines and when you walk to the fridge to grab more limeade and come back with chocolate or bread as well. You are light when the boy you like texts you and snaps you with jokes and appreciation for what you do. You are light when you walk the puppy, when strangers compliment her or you hear them say “awww” or even a two-syllable “cute”. You are light when you feel loved and supported and like you can take over the world.
We are light
We are light when we shop, ignoring the prices for what we’re picking out and being silly, grabbing items that we know we’re never going to buy. We are light when making art, getting covered in paint or clay. We are light when we flop on the couch to watch tv as we eat snacks and when we get ready for a party, playing music across several rooms. We are light when we don’t have to worry as much, knowing where rent and utility bills are going to be paid from this month. We are light when we can enjoy the sunshine or when we take a run through the rain, taking joy from the droplets instead of trying to hide from them.
They are light
They are light when everyone cares about each other and registers the things we all want to say, taking all ideas into account. That doesn’t happen that much, so they are light in the little things too.
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