curves / roads / art

Curvature
the new photo friday theme of this week is “Curvature”. i had to look the term up, it refers to: "objects embedded in another space in a way that relates to the radius of curvature of circles that touch the object" (wiki)

which brought me back to the curved cliff road in Lanzarote. and the possible angles of object and subject: island as land embedded in a sea. but also: sea as a body of water surrounded by land. (and a word find: there literally "is" "land" in island.)



land / art
here's a second photo from Lanzarote, which made me think of Curvature, too. it also connects to the book i am currently reading: "Spiral Jetta" - a road trip to the land art of the American West. i read the first half last weekend, and was transported to own travel memories (here's the blog with pics and links:  Spiral Jetty & Arches).

now i moved into the second half, which includes Erin Hogan's visit to the next landart sites: Roden Crater (which is still under construction), and Lightning Field (which can only be visited by pre-booking, being picked up, and then staying there for 24hours). while out there, Hogan isn't afraid of addressing questions that look at landart from a different place, especially as it seems to her that the visitors of the sights often come from cities and traveled to get there, while those living close-by don't feel an urge to go there: "Who will be transformed by these projects? Who will benefit from these pilgrimages, and how profound can that benefit be? Would Roden Crater offer a radically differnet experience than one could have, say, attentively camping? - Are these works, then, designed to connect urbanites with the larger world thy occupy but (and here I am typical) have neglected?"

the conflicting questions made me think of Lanzarote again. with its sparseness and vulcanolog geography, the island feels like a natural work of art. it also is home of artist Cesar Manrique, who created his art in connection to the landscape – he worked with wind sculptures, and murals. he focused on special places with them, and put them up as art marks. which not always was welcomed by other locals. more notes on Lanzarote and Manrique, including two photos of his sculptures are up in the blog, here: wind sculptures.

now, back to the Jetty road trip book. but before i go, one final link i came across: Grand Scale Environmental & Land Art Photos. Lighthing Field is second in the list, below it is Spiral Jetty, and further below, Roden Crater.

(this is the second part of a virtual road/art trip. part 1 is here: Spiral Jetty & Arches : Spiral Jetty, Canyonlands, artists/poets)