Sculpture Excursion

It was cool outside so we went to a historic house that has a contemporary outdoor sculpture exhibit spread throughout its grounds.

Some of the sculptures were "Meh, I could go to Home Depot and make that."

Some were, "Ooh, we should totally do that."

And at least one was "Wow. I do not really understand how that's possible except that saws must be involved and probably a saw mill, but I lurve it!" I'd seen a piece by this artist years before, actually this one was by a couple, Rick and Laura Brown, but it was clear to me it was the same creator(s). The new piece expands on the initial idea but makes it even more epic.

They make deconstructed trees. Imagine you start with a 100 foot tall tree and cut it down. You leave the very top alone with its thin, dead branches in tact and lay it on the ground, say 30 feet worth.

Then you cut the rest of the trunk into equal sections about 8 feet long and cut off any branches. Then cut those sections in half lengthwise.

Then, and this is where things get wacky, you cut a chunk out of the center of half of the pieces of trunk. You take those center sections and make 8 planks from each without losing any bark.

Then you fan those planks out and bolt them into the piece of trunk they came from.

The final piece looks like a series of upside down V's with fanned out planks coming out of their right sides until you get to the top of the tree lying on the ground. It's freakin' amazing.

I checked Rick and Laura Brown's website but clearly this isn't the sort of thing they usually do. It's site specific. Really awesome though.


A year ago on TTaT: Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia