adventures in photographing water

Jenn has been digging into the photography the past few weeks and has come up with some pretty interesting stuff.  This series with water, ripples and smoke is especially evocative.  Feels primordial, volcanic, atmospheric.  Could relate well to themes I'm working out with the stonework...

Currents

CURRENTS 

Inhale.

The ribbon pathway echoes
a thin blue seam, a life raft
for a green and thirsty city
with stones full of stories
the glacial melody remains
in oak tree whispers
in songs slipping over sky-colored wings
living resonance humming through life’s blue vein
this city on the Sound bears fruit
when, at last, the soft, cool kiss arrives
in iridescent waves, water for a fresh born town
taking its first breath.

Exhale.

Jennifer Chushcoff  

thoughts on text/image for flow

In terms of textual interventions in flow, here’s some thoughts on possible approaches…

1. the poem/haiku/text is short but resonant on many levels

2. typeface reinforces message/metaphor

3. text appears only with rain/moisture

4. opportunities for text include blue tree, birdhouses, boulders & images

5. piece could be read in multiple ways & different orders 

meeting with Water Flume Line Trail artists

Today Project Manager Naomi Strom-Avila and I met with Curtis Ashby, Tiffany Hammonds and Anthony Duenas at the site for their murals along the Water Line Flume Trail.  We had a chance to discuss themes, techniques and inspiration for the overall approach to each of their projects as we walked along the barrier wall where they'll paint.  Such youth and enthusiasm is contagious.

Anthony contemplating 340' of concrete canvas...!

inclusion of text/poetry

The layering in of ‘invisible poetry’ (words that only appear when wet) as a sort of stream correlates to some of my first ideas about the project.  At one point I contemplated the incorporation of stone benches along the trail engraved with some sort of poetic meditation on water, natural life cycles, the historic flume & city water system. Would’ve gone that way if they hadn’t already installed wooden benches along the trail (and I didn’t have 8 other ideas).

This may present an opportunity to potentially bind the 4 components of the overall project (flow). 

What if each subproject (free, fly, flow, flume) had some iconic language running through it as one poetic statement about the interconnected of life & water?  I’m thinking here of something relatively short yet not prosaic.  Extremely allusive and metaphoric.  Really well-chosen words that flow. 

"For we, we have taken our sheet upon her stones where we have hanged our hearts in her trees; and we list, as she bibs us by the waters of babbling.” —Joyce, Finnegan’s Wake 

water

Water

Everything on the earth bristled, the bramble
pricked and the green thread
nibbled away, the petal fell, falling
until the only flower was the falling itself.
Water is another matter,
has no direction but its own bright grace,
runs through all imaginable colors,
takes limpid lessons
from stone,
and in those functionings plays out
the unrealized ambitions of the foam. 

Pablo Neruda

flow: exploring a dialog in water

The image of where I started conceptually (see below).  The sculpture/image dialog between flume & flow seems like it should be fairly simple and direct…and to that end, a singular iconic flowing image seems appropriate (also probably a bit easier to photographically set up and achieve as a single image that could be cut into 4-5 panels…though it would be a HUGE image, digitally speaking).  

The main requirements here are having the water images fill the panels as a blue color field.  So there’ll be no white background within the border.  I think I’d also steer clear of ice (though other states such as the examples provided…droplets, waves, turbulence, etc & gradations of blueness could be interesting).  Otherwise it would be interesting to explore the possibilities involved with ‘personalities or portraits of water’ as a set of 4 images of water in various states.  It would be great if there were also a deeper subtext as it relates to water treatment, the historic water flume, purity of water, water as life, etc.  Particularly if it wove as a visual narrative in a non-literal iconic minimalistic way.  On the other hand, it could just overburden the elegance of the basic idea. 

Bluebird Team

Met today with the Bluebird Team at Mt Tahoma High School. 

Attendees included:

Molly Seyler – Art Teacher

Linda Rost – Art Teacher/Visual Department Head

Ricky Delpino – Shop Teacher

Albert Styers – Oak Tree Park Steward

Mary Anderson – Tacoma Parks

Beverly Bowen-Bennett – South Tacoma Community Council

Emily Kalnicky – Director, Tahoma Audubon

Jerry Broadus – Volunteer, Tahoma Audubon

Rebecca Solverson – Project Manager, Arts & Cultural Vitality

We discussed roles going forward, potential scope of project, student involvement, box locations, budget and timeline. 

Seven Stones

The significance of seven stones as it relates to our collective navigation around 'rocky reefs' of history, geography, topology, water and climate change...

The Seven Stones reef is a rocky reef nearly 15 miles (24 km) west-north-west (WNW) of Land's End, Cornwall and 7 miles (11 km) east-north-east (ENE) of Isles of Scilly. The reef consists of two groups of rocks and is nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) in breadth. They rise out of deep water and are a navigational hazard for shipping with 71 named wrecks and an estimated 200 shipwrecks overall. The most infamous is the Torrey Canyon in 1967, which was at that time the world's costliest shipping disaster, and to date, still the worst oil spill on the coast of the United Kingdom.^[1] The Sevenstones lightvessel has been situated to the east of the reef since 1841, to warn ships of the danger and to mark the western boundary of a major north/south shipping route between the Isles of Scilly and the Cornish coast. An automatic weather station is on the light vessel.

Situated between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the Seven Stones reef consists of seven (or eight) peaks, some of which appear at half ebb and others at low tide. They rise out of deep water, at 60 fathoms (110 m) and extend nearly two miles from north-north-west (NNW) to south-south-east (SSE) and are about a mile wide.^[2] The sea always breaks over the reef and in good weather, breakers are visible up to 12 miles (19 km) away. The rocks consists of small-grained granite which is part of the larger Cornubian batholith. The batholith formed during the early Permian period, from about 300 to 275 Ma, at a late stage in the Variscan orogeny.^[3] Some of the stones have been given names and include Flat Ledge, Flemish Ledges, North-east Rocks, Pollard's Rock, South Rock and a ledge known as the Town.^[4]

During the 1960s the reef was fished by a small fleet of French fishing vessels for crab, crayfish and lobster. Some of these vessels were the first on the scene when the Torrey Canyon sank in 1967.^[5] On the vertical surfaces there are clusters of jewel anemones and hydroids, and plumose anemones on the more exposed rocks.

The reef is a major hazard to shipping as it is on the western boundary of a major north/south shipping route between the Cornish coast and the Isles of Scilly. The lightvessel, which has been on site since 1841, is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the north-east, not on the reef, a safety measure, as the sea is less rough away from the reef and also to ensure passing ships give the reef a wide berth. It is estimated that there are over 200 shipwrecks although only 71 are named.^[4]

The first recorded wreck was in early March 1656. Two English men o'war, the Primrose and Mayflower, were searching for two Spanish frigates which had been patrolling the area and had captured a Bristol bound vessel. The sixth rate, 22 gun man o'war, Primrose lost her main topmast near the Longships, off Land’s End and drifted onto the Seven Stones. She managed to free herself and later sank in 60 fathoms (110 m) taking sixteen men, two women and a child with her. At the investigation into the loss, Trinity House, on behalf of the Admiralty, stated that they could not find any chart that showed the reef. The Admiralty found that there was no neglect either by the Officers or company, the place of wreck being a rock not visible nor described in any chart they could find.^[4] The largest loss of life was on 27 February 1748 with the sinking of the fourteen gun sloopHMS Lizard which was wrecked with the loss of over one hundred crew.^[4]

On 18 March 1967 the world’s first major oil pollution incident occurred when a supertanker, the Torrey Canyon hit the Pollard’s Rock, tearing a 610 ft (186 m) gash in her side and spilling 860,000 barrels of oil into the sea. Westerly winds and currents caused the oil to pollute 120 miles (190 km) of the Cornish coast and 50 miles (80 km) of the Brittany coast. She now lies in 98 ft (30 m) of water. Large amounts of toxic detergent was sprayed on the oil in an attempt to disperse it and, along with the oil, accounted for the loss of much of the marine life and 15,000 birds.^[7] At the time it was the world's costliest shipping disaster, and to date, still the worst oil spill on the coast of the United Kingdom.

The government was first petitioned for a light on the reef in 1826 (with no success), and a second petition in 1839 was supported by the British Channel ports, Liverpool merchants and the Chamber of Commerce of Waterford. A meeting held on 21 February 1840 in Falmouth declared the reef would shorten the route around the Isles of Scilly by up to 36 hours, and on 31 July 1841 a lightvessel (also known as a lightship) was seen at nearby St Mary's, Isles of Scilly.^[2] A lightvessel was first moored near the reef on 20 August 1841 and exhibited its first light on 1 September 1841. She is permanently anchored in 40 fathoms (73 m) and is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-east (NE) of the reef.^[2][5]Just over a year later on 25 November 1842 her cable parted and she almost became a wreck when she drove over the reef at high tide. The crew steered the ship to New Grimsby, Tresco where she stayed until 6 January 1843. She broke adrift again that January and went over the reef a second time the following March. Two of the crew drowned on 15 October 1851 when one of the lightship's longboats capsized, in a squall, on a journey from Scilly with stores.^[4] A meteor exploded over the lightvessel, at 2 am on 13 November 1872, showering the deck with cinders.^[8] The ship was replaced with a lighted buoy during the Second World War after being frequently bombed and machine-gunned by German pilots.^[5] Since 1987, the ship has been automated and unmanned with the accommodation and storage areas filled with foam to help with buoyancy in the event of a collision.^[7]

The Seven Stones lightvessel also acts as an automatic weather station.

There is a legend, part of the King Arthur scenario, that there was once a land between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, known as Lyonesse, with several towns and 140 churches. In the legend it was flooded and became sea. Only one man survived, Trevelyan, who riding on a black horse managed to reach dry land. The area is also part of Arthurian legend when Merlin cast a spell to engulf the land and the forces of Mordred who were chasing the fleeing army of King Arthur who he had just slain in battle. Arthur’s supporters managed to reach high ground in the Isles of Scilly. Fishermen are said to be able to hear the sound of church bells.

Water Flume Line Trail muralists selected

Today I was part of a jury to select artists for three mural opportunities on the Water Flume Line Trail.  The murals will be painted on the pedestrian side of the barrier wall of the Water Flume Line Trail that runs adjacent to South Tacoma Way, roughly between Tacoma Avenue S. and Yakima Avenue.  

The artists we selected were:

Curtis Ashby
Anthony Duenas
Tiffany Hammonds

Three young artists with very different artistic visions who will be challenged with creating the longest murals in Tacoma (up to 340')...

possible plantings around 'flume'

Considering the possibility of using the sculptural stone intervention at 74th Street as an opportunity to plant some native vegetation typical of the Garry Oak habitat.

Here's some possibilities I'm thinking about...

Symphoricarpos albus (Common Snowberry)

Carex inops (Long-stolon Sedge)

Camassia quamash (Common Camas)

Thinking the Camas is particularly appropriate with blue/violet color tie-in to overall themes of the project.  Refer also to earlier musings on blue native plant possibilities.  

Could envision these serving as a sort of natural blooming frame for the large stones.