Subtitle: A few months ago I saw a documentary at Cornell Cinema on Andy Goldsworthy. He's a Scottish artist that works with natural materials, often making ephemeral art. He has a couple works at Cornell. The movie showed him making (or directing some stonemasons to make) a winding stone wall at a place near the Hudson River. It's about 3 hours from Ithaca by car. I decided I'd like to see that place. Also, I figured a couple friends who like to take pictures, Antonia and Rob, would enjoy such a day trip. And finally, it occurred to me that it'd work out well as an aerial excursion. I talked to my two friends and they were up for it. So on June 15, 2013, we set out on a adventure.

Our destination was the Storm King Arts Center, by way of the Newburgh/Stewart "International" airport. This page focuses on the arts. I'll have another one for the flight (which in general was quite nice).

I had my camera bag with all my lenses in it (no polarizer though, so not many blue sky shots), but for the most part I stuck with the 35mm lens (50mm equivalent), mostly as an experiment. I used the wide-angle and telephoto lenses once. But I wanted to try to keep things simple. When the shot was too big, I just took multple picutres and have "stitched" them together using Photoshop. The results are usually decent, though some have artifacts (especially since they were all handheld, instead of using a tripod with a panoramic head). 000-tube-panorama: A panoramic shot of some tubular art, called Adonai, which is one of the Hebrew words for god, so technically speaking writing it down is probably a sin. This was assembled from two pictures. 000a-DSC_4461: A shot of the tubes from a slightly different angle. 001-DSC_4464: Rob reads the plaque on how to operate the art. 002-DSC_4465: The making of Rob's picture. Here is Antonia's shot of me taking this picture. 004-DSC_4467: The woods were lovely, though not that dark and not that deep. A "making of" shot of Antonia taking a picture of Rob, taking a picture of the bark of the tree, which had an interesting pattern on it. 005-DSC_4472: Cool pattern on the bark. 006-DSC_4473-header: Cicadas: Brood II 006-DSC_4473-headertext: Technically this doesn't relate to the art, but it turns out that we arrived in the middle of the emergence of cicadas. About 3 weeks earlier, they had come up out of the ground, after 17-years, and they had been partying non-stop since then. It was literally a party-till-you-drop sort of thing. During the 6 hours while we were there, there was a constant background noise from the cicadas. This did not sound like the buzzing, rattling noise that I'm used to hearing, and that dramatically tapers off after a minute. This sounded like a Star Trek phaser, with a wavering sound. In some areas it was lounder, and some areas it was quieter, but it was there the whole damn time.

The cicadas were also everywhere. Looking around, we'd find a few might have hitched a ride on our pants or shoulder. Or they'd fly by and land. They look cool, but they are not in any way graceful when they land, more often then not flopping over on their back, and then wiggling in an "oh shit, I bloew that one" kind of way, occasionally buzzing with a "Hey, a little help here! Anyone? Anyone?" tone.

There were many small holes in the ground from where they emerged. They molt one final time, and many empty casings were on the ground as well as still on the sides of trees. There were some double-ended cicadas who probably simply couldn't "get a room" since every insect motel was booked. And then there were lots and lots and lots of dead ones on the ground and some of the areas smelled a bit nasty from all the dead bugs. Using a primative counting system, I'd say there were "many" cicadas, possibly even many manys. 006-DSC_4473: Hey look there's a cicada. 007-DSC_4474: And Antonia takes a picture of it (I thought her butterfly hair clip was extra appropriate here). 008-DSC_4476: Side view of a cicada. 009-DSC_4479: It actually took us a while to figure out that this was just an empty shell, as opposed to some mutant, transparent, hollow-version. 011-DSC_4481: Some art called Spheres, which had lots and lots of dead cicadas around and smelled a bit nasty. 012-DSC_4483: A pile of dead cicadas at the bottom of a tree. Some adults, some shells, and others. 013-DSC_4486: Adult cicadas don't (and can't) bite and are pretty mellow. Antonia made a friend. 014-DSC_4487: Another shot of her buddy, Mr. C (ID# 478,201,532,887-2013/II). 015-DSC_4488-header: Back to the Art 015-DSC_4488-headertext: 015-DSC_4488: This piece is called Endless Column. Kind of a misnomer, though I imagine it might have felt that way when it was being built. 016-DSC_4490: Another shot of it as we got closer, from a different angle. 016a-tower-panorama: A tall panoramic shot of it. Hint: The one artifact of the stitching I've noticed is at the first 90° bend above the base. 017-DSC_4494: This one is called Two Planes. 018-DSC_4495: It catches the light in a neat sort of way. 020-DSC_4497: This one is called Five Open Squares, Gyratory Gyrotory. 022-DSC_4500: It's a big mobile; the squares move. 023-DSC_4501: The Gyratory Square frames the next art, Iliad (Antonia pointed out the shot; her picture of it is better). 024-DSC_4503: Iliad. 025-DSC_4508: Antonia makes shadow art with the Iliad. Kind of looks like part of the biohazard symbol. I should point out that she is wearing a backpack and does not have two heads, nor is otherwise misshapen. 025a-iliad-panorama: A panoramic shot of Iliad, with a Cornell classics professor admiring it (it wasn't planned that way). Spot the stitching artifact: the top left tube should be completely circular. Also, the little white fleck in the middle tube towards the top is, surprise, a cicada. It's visible in the huge version of the picture. 026-DSC_4509: 027-DSC_4511: 029-DSC_4521: A work called Forms in Movement. 031-DSC_4531: Flowers! 032-DSC_4532-header: By the Museum 032-DSC_4532-headertext: There were a bunch of smaller works at the top of the hill to the north that overlooked the whole site. We did not go inside the indoor museum. Antonia took a nice shot of Rob pointing out to me a weakness in the defenses, as we overlook the area and make our plan of attack. 032-DSC_4532: I don't know what this one is... 033-DSC_4533: I thought this was an odd looking drain on the musuem house, but it happens to be another art. So it's freaky, skull-like look is intentional. Turns out it's called Skull-Mask I. 034-DSC_4535: Standing Owl I (looks a bit like the Cosmic Owl to me), with ionic columns in the background. 035-DSC_4536: Striding Figure (Aluminum I) 036-DSC_4537: 037-DSC_4538: 3 different examples of art! The one to the right has a light in it. 038-DSC_4540: Untitled Striding Figure I 039-DSC_4543: The view of the road from the top. Really pretty and pastoral. This is Antonia's version of the shot—I really like it. 040-DSC_4544: The columns overlooking the valley below remind me of the iconic Maxfield Parrish work Daybreak. I was hoping the woman was going to do something appropriate, like dance in the sunbeams, but alas, no. 041-DSC_4545: Aphprodite. Apparently the curators had felt it was a bit racy so this year they put it in an area surrounded by ferns. Yeah, if there's one word that jumps to mind with Aphrodite, that would be "modesty." 043-DSC_4548: Antonia is lord (or lady) of all she surveys. 044-DSC_4550: Antonia crushes the art! 045-DSC_4552: Rob, Antonia, and I pose for a group art picture. A doctored version of the picture where I removed Rob's body is here. 047-DSC_4558-header: Mirror Fence 047-DSC_4558-headertext: The Mirror Fence is a pretty nifty thing. Sitting near the boundary between a wooded area and a grassy hillside, the pickets reflect the scene behind the viewer, while the empty spaces between and above the pickets allow the viewer to see the contrasting landscape on the other side of the fence. We had to stop, sit, and take some pictures here. 047-DSC_4558: Me, with the grassy hillside behind and the woods ahead. 048-DSC_4560: I was going to take a picture of Antonia taking her picture, but when I turned to look she was rummaging through her bag and posed with a big smile, so I couldn't pass on that one. 049-DSC_4561: Reflection Rob sits and reflects on his reflection, reflected in the fence. 050-DSC_4562: More "the making of" with Rob and Antonia taking pictures of themselves. 051-DSC_4564: A picture of Rob while I'm on the woodsy side of the fence. 052-DSC_4565: Similarly, a picture of Antonia from the other side. 053-DSC_4568: I discovered the top of the fence was mirrored too, so this is me looking down on it from above. It reminds me a bit of how the Doctor sees a scary clown reflection when he brushes away dirt on the ground, in the Tom Baker Doctor Who episode "The Deadly Assassin." I'm also amazed that I was able to find a web site that had that image. 054-DSC_4569: The pastoral hillside beyond the fence. 055-DSC_4570: Waiting for UFO. 056-DSC_4571: This work was just beyond the fence. The little Buddhas tip over just as the TVs they watch tip. I don't know what the UFO connection is. 057-DSC_4574-header: Three Legged Buddha 057-DSC_4574-headertext: One of the large installations is called Three Legged Buddha. We sought enlightenment, as well as re-enacting the opening of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Antonia took a picture of me standing next to the head, and then being silly (picking both our noses). She commented that now she has pictures that she could use against me, if the need ever arose. I think she'd probably have to get in line... 057-DSC_4574: Three Legged Buddha from a distance. 058-DSC_4575: 059-DSC_4577: Two of the legs are supported by "small" poles, about the size of a person, while the third stands on top of a large head. 060-DSC_4578: 061-DSC_4579: A close up of the foot. 062-DSC_4581: Antonia is being squashed, Monty Python style! 063-DSC_4582: 064-DSC_4583: She actually looked a bit too happy in the other shots, but I figured I'd keep the bunch. I haven't bothered removing the support column with Photoshop. It's just as easy to imagine it. 065-DSC_4584: Antonia finds inner peace. 066-DSC_4586: Expressing her Buddhist leanings. 067-DSC_4587: And a more literal Buddhist leaning. 068-DSC_4590: Some pretty flowers in the area. 069-DSC_4591-header: Goldsworthy's Wall 069-DSC_4591-headertext: Technically, it's called Five Men, Seventeen Days, Fifteen Boulders, One Wall. But this was the initial motivation to go here. The wall is quite windy and sinuous, snaking around trees. I wonder if the stone masons started to get annoyed at Goldworthy for taking the long way. It also goes down into a pond and then emerges on the far side, then continues up a hill and ends at the edge of the Storm King property by Interstate 87. 069-DSC_4591: The start of the wall. 071-DSC_4595: 072-DSC_4597: A shot from above. 073-DSC_4606: Antonia felt that the view from above was a good position, but she couldn't get high enough to capture enough of the wall. I suggested she use her monopod. She took a series, each one from a slightly higher vantage point. This "making of" shot shows her holding the camera up, about as tall as she is above her head. 074-DSC_4607: A shot of Rob taking a picture from the wall. The stones have nice detail but the background was blown out, since we were in the woods and it was sunny in the field beyond the wall. I decided to try it as a black and white shot (post-processing) and I think it works. 075-DSC_4609: It looked like an open mouth with a big jaw at the bottom of the tree. 076-DSC_4610: A close-up of the wall. I decided to try it as a sepia-toned black and white shot (post-processing), since I wanted an old-style feel to the stone wall. 077-DSC_4614: I found a gap in the wall and stood in the middle of it. Rob and Antonia took my picture, and so I returned the favor. 078-DSC_4619: The wall descending into the pond. 079-DSC_4620: A telephoto shot of the wall coming out of the pond on the far side. 080-DSC_4623: A weeping willow on the other side of the pond. 080a-wall-panorama: A panoramic shot of the pond from the end of it. Three groups of geese swam out as we walked to the bank. The wall on the left side of the pond is a bit darker and harder to see than the one on the right. We came from the one on the right and headed towards the one on the left. 081-DSC_4647: The place where we were where the wall entered the water. The water was very still even. 082-DSC_4648: 083-DSC_4649: Antonia taking a picture of Rob taking a picutre of the wall across the pond. 084-DSC_4654: The wall as it emerges from the pond (or descends into it, depends on your point of view). 085-DSC_4655: The wall again, with the far end seen coming out of the water across the pond. 086-DSC_4656: Another shot of the wall with the water separating the two segments. 087-DSC_4658: The wall continued up a hill and ends at I-87. 088-DSC_4659: There is a gap in the wall as it crosses a road in the park. Antonia's shooting a picture across the pond. 088-hills-panorama-header: More Art 088-hills-panorama-headertext: After the wall, we headed back, seeing a few more units of art on the south side of Storm King. 088-hills-panorama: A panoramic shot of the Storm King Wavefield. There was a sign saying that people were not permitted to walk on the field because of recent rains, which implies that normally we can. It looked neat. It was getting late in the day, so the light wasn't great (but still too early for end of the day light). 089-DSC_4661: With the exception of Goldsworthy, I had not heard of any of the artists (which isn't saying much). Until now. This one, called Mermaid, is a painted canoe by Roy Lichtenstein. 090-DSC_4662: The pond (different than the one with the wall) had a lot of pond scum, but was still kind of pretty. 091-DSC_4664: The Lichtenstein canoe. 092-DSC_4665: More canoe. It doesn't use any zip-a-tone or half-toning, like his cartoons. 094-DSC_4667: The road back. 095-DSC_4671: Mozart's Birthday, with Five Swords visible in the distance. 096-DSC_4672: Frog's Legs in the distance. 097-DSC_4674: Approaching Frog's legs. It looks like some odd, rusty, gigantic Mars Rover kind of device. 098-DSC_4675: Antonia and Rob heading to the car after a day of photographic adventures. 099-DSC_4676: Frog's Legs, close up. And Antonia's "making of" this picture. I was laying down on the hillside to get that shot. 100-DSC_4677: We saw these 3 standing squares ("Untitled", grrr...) from above, by the museum. We noticed the shadows each one cast was different. It made no sense, and still doesn't really. My guess is a spacial-temporal anomaly. 101-DSC_4678: Yes, Rob is practicing his mime work (since it would be a terrible thing to waste). 102-DSC_4679: Antonia and Rob in a shooting match. Antonia took this silhouette of me and Rob. 103-DSC_4682: An untitled balance beam thingy. This one, by Antonia, is Rob's picture of me. 104-DSC_4683: 105-DSC_4685: Having had our fill of assorted art, we headed out to get dinner and then fly home.