NEW from The Trinity Series -

"Trinity #24 - The Scot Readymade"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... a braw day for the sentinels three ..."
- Unknown

NEW from The Trinity Series -

"Trinity #26 - 3343 Milton Readymade"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

It's been some time since I've posted anything from The Trinity Series. I've had this particular image in the files for at least two years - to illustrate the point - and I have every good intention of doing a few more throughout the summer.

NEW from The Trinity Series -

"Trinity #18 - Warners Road Readymade, Post Documentation Study I"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

In the short weeks ahead I'll be making a proposal for a public artwork that, if selected, will be another major public sculpture in downtown Syracuse, New York. Also during this time my collaborator, Mark Moncavage, will be replanting and shaping the topiary sculpture, Trinity #2, that was installed last year at the Inner Harbor. Thus begins the season for site specific sculpture, land art and walking art projects of which today's post is the first documentation of a realized, readymade. In the footsteps of Marcel Duchamp and that dadaist tradition, I post this study ... more to come.

Time flies -

"Red Arrow"
land art by Paige Elizabeth Herzog

It barely seems possible that so much time has slipped away. Back in early October my two youngest granddaughters helped Poppa do a bit of land art, a lovely rock bridge that you can read about here, in the stream next to Leighlund's house. After said bridge work was completed, Paige did a fabulous job announcing it's presence with this beautifully composed red arrow. When I mentioned that you should all stay tuned, I had no idea that almost two and a half months would pass. Considering the heavy snowfall we've had for five days I suppose this bit of green may be a welcome sight, even if only for a moment.

Where do I go from here?

"A Walk in the Fog I"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

As I continue to make forays into the BIG backyard, I seem to be getting closer to organizing my land art projects. Too, my further research and study of the works of Richard Long and Hamish Fulton inspire me as I also begin to embark upon my own program of "Walking Art". Everything seems to be taking shape and it feels right. For the moment, some of the documentary photographs taken one foggy day after completing the Kings Court Cube will become part of that old project under the title "Fog Walk 2008". Today's post is the first to be included in my plans for a proper exhibition ... one foot after the other.

Stretching the limits?

"Disappearing Into A Gridded Landscape"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Today's post is tied to some of the research I've been doing for months and, more specifically, this past week at the blog, Walking Art. The land art movement, with roots all the way back to the 1960's, is exploding as social issues such as sustainability, recycling, the environment, rural and urban planning begin to settle out from the radical activist fringe. Grass-roots organizing on the local level is slowly replacing the hippy dippy junk-science-based paradigm with better informed models, experiments and projects that place all of these important issues back within the realm of good stewardship, where they belong. The better news here is that individual ideas of art, public art and land use interpretation is shattering the elitist viewpoint and returning art to the masses. At the same time, the individual is empowered to redefine certain forms of conceptual art for himself by simply taking a walk. With digital cameras, video and other emerging technologies new methods of creating and documenting en plein air art are added to traditional forms of painting, drawing or sculpture. There's much more to say but, not having the room in this forum, I'll do what I can to reveal those areas where I'm in concert with some of the new directions and movements that I'm beginning to see.

Back to the cube -

"Post Cube Conceptual Study II"
manipulated digital drawing by Mick Mather

A week or so ago I mentioned that I might be showing another version of this piece and here it is. I'm having a lot of fun with all of the works that continue to pile up as a result of the Kings Court Cube land art sculpture; and, I'm getting closer to putting what I have so far into a catalog or something. I may also have stumbled into an opportunity to create Ice Cube if I can get a proposal together and find the right weather conditions when winter gets here. I'll keep you posted.

Making hay while the sun shines -

"Study #2 for Sky Box I"
digitally manipulated drawing by Mick Mather

I've pressed forward with another land art project called Sky Box I that can currently be seen at No Matter What Shape - The Archive, my other blog. I've mentioned it briefly here as well, along with another study for the documentation; but, things have changed a little bit. For one thing, it's completed and, for another, the longevity of this 1-foot square box is suspect. Be that as it may, Sky Box II is already being planned and, in the spring, I believe that Flower Box will be added to my list. This 1-inch square box, as yet an indistinct plan, is expected to surround a wildflower next May. This doesn't presuppose the building of Ice Box and/or Snow Cube should proper conditions occur this winter. Hmm, busy, busy me!

Making connections -

"Framework I"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

For one reason or another I can't seem to break away from work on the Kings Court Cube. This isn't a complaint, mind you, as the continued additions and connections with the recently completed sculpture are fabulous in and of themselves. Today's post comes from a group of photographs (I speak about them here) taken while checking on the condition of the piece. It soon became clear that some of these wonders of nature could be seen as drawings and I quickly set about looking for as many as I could find that might work in 2-dimensions toward that end. Here's the first of what may become a new series as well as an addition to the documentary record of that land art project.

Land Art Project -

"Kings Court Cube"

land art sculpture by Mick Mather

I finished the project today. If you want to see the daily progress of this land art construction, you'll find it here at No Matter What Shape - The Archive. I took some documentary video footage again but, dang! ... it came out worse than the original one! If I can carve out a little time to do some editing, I might come up with another short movie to post, eventually. I had to cut back on the original concept of filling the cube with colorful leaves but I have another idea if the structure of stacked and woven twigs and branches survives the winter. There's a bit of work involved and, for now, I'm all in with no thoughts of continuing this project for a while. I'll create Sky Box before the weather turns too miserable and then tackle those parts of the new idea that can be done, left to winter over with final considerations and further work in the spring. For now, enjoy this if you can.

Another beautiful day -

"Paige's Bridge"
stacked stone sculpture by Mick Mather

Today was tree planting for the the "Green Spaces Grant" that was awarded this summer to landscape designer, Mark Moncavage and I. As I may have mentioned before, my sculpture, Trinity #2, is scheduled for installation amid 5 flowering crabapple trees on the Creek Walk at Inner Harbor in Syracuse, New York. As soon as the piece is approved by the Public Art Commission and accepted by the Syracuse Common Council, Steve Cooper, my fabricator, will proceed to build and install it ... but, that's another story. My beautiful granddaughters, Leighlund and Paige, came to the planting and had quite good time. Later in the day the three of us went down the other creek - the little stream near Leighlund's house - to inspect "Leighlund's Cairn". Having suffered some bit of damage since I was there last, it had to be completely rebuilt. I'll be showing the new piece very soon, but here in today's post we have a little stone bridge that was suggested by Paige and constructed by all three of us as a team. I seem to have a pair of budding land art sculptors growing on the vine here and there's more to show you. Stay tuned!

Another outdoor project -

"Study #3 for Sky Box I"
manipulated digital drawing by Mick Mather

It's been raining for an entire week now and I still haven't completed my "Kings Court Cube" project. While waiting for a bit of sunshine at the weekend, I began doodling about with yet another outdoor, land art project to be called "Sky Box". This piece is a much smaller cube and will be woven into a stand of small trees at shoulder height. I don't know that I've mentioned this before but there should be some visible progress by mid-month I should think. For now, this is one of the digital studies from the documentation of the as yet unrealized work.

Back to basics -

"Late in the Day"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I've been immersed in a recent flurry of land art and installation art projects and proposals. I also have a maquette to build for "Trinity #2" in preparation for the Public Art Commission review in a few weeks while simultaneously attempting to complete the "Kings Court Cube". It's been rainy with enough fog to make things interesting and I took a short movie of it when I went out this morning to check its status ... with no ability to edit the thing (I don't have the proper software to do anything with it) I've post it at No Matter What Shape anyway. That said, it's been a comfort to be able to fall back upon old methods of working to accomplish some new work, such as today's post, in a relatively short space of time. Well, I'd better get back at it!

NEW from The Selfportrait Series -

"Selfportrait of the Artist as a Silhouette"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

It's been a while since posting an image from this series and you may recall hearing similar sentiments on Saturday when speaking of the dry spell between images in The Mister Existence Series. I have another one ready too, but will wait until a day when I need to go to the well. I'm a bit tired and short on time since construction of the Kings Court Cube began today. You can have a sneak peek at the effort at No Matter What Shape.

Walking a line -

"Searching for Richard Long"
manipulated digital drawing by Mick Mather

While my most recent reading materials have been about the pioneers of Land Art, Richard Long is on my favorites list. Not to be confused with Richard Long, who is himself often confused with Gig Young, it is the British artist that I speak of. It is his concept of walking the land and leaving marks along the way that appeals to me most, I think. As one afflicted with wanderlust, my fertile imagining of far away places was fueled with an interest in maps, adventuresome journeys and the pouring over of atlases, road maps, sea charts, tour maps, weather maps and ... well, you get the idea. This piece is dedicated to Mr. Long and, sorry to dash off, but the search is begun and the game is afoot!