Hermitage Blog Day 3
This morning I met with Hermitage Museum’s Director, The
Programs Coordinator, and the Assistant in my new borrowed work space. It was
fun to host them there, around the work table up on the stage, surrounded by a
horde of half baked tire shemes.
The
Hermitage staff are all understandably a little bit at their wits edge juggling
the new challenges that Hurricane Irene has thrown at them (for instance, a
flame broiled fuse box, and still no power, with several on- site wedding coming
up this weekend!), so at this point, they are a bit punchy and delirious. While
they are actually are holding together impressively well, maybe being around
weird art gave them the chance to blow off a little steam. Needless to say, it
was a charged and exciting meeting!
Melanie, the Director, liked many of my ideas, which was
relief. She is also a professor of Art History, so she has a good sense of art,
and where my tire art fits in. She also has a good sense of humor, and
appreciates my own, which goes a long ways, I think.
Particularly relieved was I that she was willing to go along
with my brand new proposal (as of yesterday), to create a mini-Parlor Diorama
in the large ‘display case’ as you approach the gallery. My aim is to recreate
some of the ambiance in the parlor downstairs (in the museum), but
incorporating rubber tires into many of the furnishings.
There was a suggestion of making a sort of portal/window
into this ‘world’. While I think this could diminish its impact on approaching
it, it could be interesting…
I made the mistake of showing her a sketch for one of my
more ambitious proposals- She loved it…This is a proposal to recreate one of 3
ornate friezes carved into a wall panel in the downstairs area, incedentaly
right in the area where they would like me to display some sculptures. When I
had stopped by earlier this year, I was taken by the intensity of these
designs, made a sketch of two of them, and thought to recreate one as a large
(4’ x 8’) shadowbox, of rubber…
This would be new ground for me, and I am really not Sure
that I could pull it off, in this time frame. To make it more complicated, and
proportionally more awesome, Melanie made the brilliant suggestion to use
Plexiglass instead of wood, adding a an element of luminosity, to what already
is a very Gothic design….(It would be shown infront of a large window, with the
sunset lit bay behind it…) This could be incredible….I suggested that we look
at creating it at a later date, after the show…
Towards the end of the meeting, Jolina, the Grounds Keeper stopped by, which was great
timing. I showed her my treadknot planters, which she liked, and she ordered 4
for her plant sale, (which will take place the weekend of our opening)!
Jolina was also excited about the tire screen, or curtain,
which I proposed to place in the far edge of the garden, looking out on the
bay, so that you could see the bay and the sunset through it. She recommended a
few cedar trees, which look like they should do the trick nicely.
A few pieces didn’t make the cut, and they perhaps deserve a
requiem.
One was the “String of Pearls”. This would have been the
debut of the Great Balls of Tire Series, and a glorious debut it would have
been. It would have run above a run of 14
millstones, leading to an arch which overlooks the water. Above each
millstone, would have dangled a different Tire Sphere.
While I mourn this loss in some ways, I am not sure that the
Great Balls of Tire series is yet ready to meet the world. There were ready to
be made, but their sharing with the world can wait.
Also lost on the chopping block, was a trinity of a Silk
worm, a caccoon, and a butterfly, to hang below and around a beautiful old
magnolia tree, that can only be described as Grand and Matriarchal. This is
lamentable, because sculptor Janice Rieves had helped me to create a mock up of
the caccoon, and it was really off to a great start. She even did a special
‘Tea-stain’ to the long john fabric, to give it an antique look, which was very
effective. The butterfly also had the potential to be quite spectacular. Oh
well, their days will come…
Though I was sad to see both of these projects go, at the
same time, I really have my work cut out for me. So let this be a good lesson
in cutting your losses, and moving forward to "strengthen the things that remain"….(to quote Bob Dylan).
