August 4, 2010

Can you believe that it’s already August? I know I sure can’t, the summer has completely flown by and I am scrambling to spend as much time outside. There are the outdoor concerts I have yet to see, my pilgrimage over the Brooklyn Bridge, more games of volleyball and badminton, and all the popsicles and ice cream cones that have yet to be eaten.

Outdoor art is also a sight to behold. Summer is the best time to see art, on every corner of every street. There is Play Me I’m Yours, Event Horizon in Madison Sq. Park, and Big Bambu at the MET. But if you ever feel the need to hop the pond over to the U.K you should check out this land artist, Chris Drury.

All of his works are concerned with three main connections: nature and culture, inner and other, micro and macro.

Though Chris works in both indoor galleries and outdoor spaces he much prefers the freedom and space that nature provides. Having works displayed in a natural environment not only allows the viewer to explore the work in a way that is not possible in a gallery setting. Furthermore, the work is constantly interacting with its surrounding environment which the viewer is able to observe and connect with. “A masseur in Japan once said to me that he puts people in touch with their bodies in much the same way I put people in touch with their landscapes,” he says.

In the South Carolina Botanical Gardens there is an example of a “growing work”, a Time Capsule. The work comprises two large woven stick domes in a figure of 8 plan. The nucleus of each dome is a rammed earth column in a woven stick mould. In the weaving are four live tree saplings. These saplings are tied and grafted together at the top. The weaving will eventually rot away leaving the saplings to grow up around the red earth monoliths.

Wind Wave Chamber

Stone Vortex

Chris has also done a series of works called Cloud Chambers which are essentially buildings that have a tiny circular hole opening in the roof. In the tiny opening is a lens which projects the sky and clouds above. The interior of these structures are painted white and is called the “viewing surface”, and thus the sky above is projected on the floor below. This is an illustration of inner and outer concept; how we perceive and deduce as inside and outside because the clouds are clearly inside, but they are an “outside” entity.

Outside

Inside

He also creates work for gallery space as well, while maintaining the natural feel of his art.

Heart Of Stone

28 x 16x 12 made from Welsh cut slate surround and three grades of slate – drain filling laid on edge in the pattern of a cross-section through the apex of a human heart. “The tissue of the heart is formed by the spiralling flow of blood which is pulled in from the periphery and pushed out again. You can find these same patterns in the macrocosm, in weather systems on the planet and in the formation of galaxies. One of the aspects of complexity theory is that as systems become more complex, instead of degenerating into chaos, they tend to form coherent patterns. So although life systems are in a state of ever-changing dynamic flux, the patterns of interconnected relationships are a constant, even though these may change and evolve. This is the pattern of life on earth.” – Chris

Destroying Angel Trinity

These three images are digitally printed mushroom spore prints and hand written words in white ink and pencil on canvas. The mushroom chosen here is Amanita virosa, Destroying Angel, it is pure white and utterly deadly if you are foolish enough to eat it. Symptoms of poisoning may take 24 hours to appear by which time it is too late to do anything.