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The Year In Sand
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Form starts:
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21 (#105-125)
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Completions:
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19
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Free-pile:
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16
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Contests:
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0 (1 invitation)
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Overview
For most of the year, I could do no wrong. Eighteen sculptures, an unbroken record. Then two of the next three failed while being carved, somewhat restoring my statistics. The year's last effort failed after completion.
They all moved toward more complexity. Small improvements in pile quality as I learned to use my form and packing equipment better enabled deeper undercuts and more openings. The long summer days invited me to spend everything I had in completing the sculptures.
In August I built 97F-18. Probably the most complex sculpture I'd done, it sort of put a period on the year by setting a construction-time record of nearly 11 hours. How could I top that? Besides, I was tired and needed a break.
After that things really got interesting. The weather turned hot and smoggy, and work got difficult. I had to drive the truck, then fight my way home through beastly traffic. Wanting to forget everything I walked to the beach to body-surf.
Santa Monica beaches usually have sand too coarse for sculpture. As I walked, traffic-dazed, toward the water my feet felt a difference. The water forgotten, I dug a borrow pit just above the receding water and started piling sand. By the time the sun had set there was another revolution starting.
In 1996 I started making sculptures that used a smaller form and less than half the sand I'd been used to. These were conceived as practice efforts, or a way to keep my hands sandy while I waited for conditions to permit "real" sculptures. That never happened. What happened was the smaller sculptures taking ever more time as I learned to put more detail into the small pile.
The apotheosis of this process was 97F-18. Where do you go from the mountain's peak? All the routes lead down. Refusing that option I hung a hard left into uncharted territory. I hadn't done free-pile sculpture for years. They were beneath my abilities now. But the sand invited me, there was no bus to catch and there was daylight.
The result was an extraordinary series of sculptures. Low to the ground, sweeping gracefully around multiple parts. They started with arches but soon developed other appurtenances. The first ones weren't very attractive but by the end of the year they were nearly the equal of their better developed formed brethren. Ever since, free-pile sculpting has been a part of my process.
The year had one more surprise in store. Terry has been building pyramids, oriented accurately north-south and measured in multiples of cubits, for 26 years or so. One day when I was walking the beach, he was there. I had no plans, and wound up helping him build pyramids. This is the first time I've helped anyone with a sculpture. Pyramids are more difficult to make than you might think; there are subtleties involved, some dictated by the lack of compaction. Terry's had practice. He did the finish work, I did the muscle stuff. It was fun.
In late November, I tried a combination of formed and handbuilt sculptures. Technical mistakes led to the failure of the formed component, so I built a free-pile on the ruins. (LS123, 99P-15)
In December Bert Adams came in with his pool plastic forms and we hit the beach on a very windy day to try them out. The sand was poor; El Niño was making himself felt. I had a good start on a sculpture, but it failed (LS124). Bert's gave up as he was napping in the sun. I built a little arch (99P-16) and then we called it a day.
On Christmas Day various friends and I headed for the beach for the year's last hurrah. Berms built to protect the buildings from storms had completely rearranged the beach, aided by the storms themselves. It was a harbinger. The sculpture was good until its top overwhelmed its diminished base. That also was a harbinger.
Technical Notes
No revolutions here. Still using the sailcloth form introduced in August of 1996, which is holding up very well. I've refined the packing technique a bit, and learned to modify the process to suit different types of sand, but it's still filter-wash-tamp and repeat.
I have plans for some new forms. I'd like to have a tapered one, and one that's wider and shorter than my current one.
With the sculptures becoming more detailed, I need some smaller tools. They also need to be sharper.
About Photography
I was trying to cover all the possibilities: black-and-white negative and slide film, color slide and negative, utility shots and fine art. I was taking four cameras with me, and lots of film, before understanding something about sculptural horse and photographic cart. Besides that, the sculpture was becoming just plain more demanding.
Photography got trimmed, first to utility prints with a 35mm point-and-shoot, then retrimmed upward to the medium-format and tripod black-and-white work that is my favorite. If I had time for some utility prints or slides, that was even better. In short, the sculpture got what it needed of my energy and photography got what was left. By summertime, that wasn't much.
Public Relations
I completely rewrote my information handout. Derived from the Web site Don Tidwell put up in January of 1996, it has proven popular with passersby.
In August, Don's Web site reeled in an interesting fish. Most Web viewers don't bother to use Email links but Larry Dudock just about wore out the wires between here and Long Island with questions. Once he sent me a sample of the sand he was trying to use I understood his confusion. Imagine trying to sculpt with gravel and you'll have a pretty good idea. [October 2000 update: we're still learning from each other, but at least now he knows what good sand is.]
Anyway, questions lead to answers. In the course of answering his I learned a lot, which I added to the information sheet. There were even more important ramifications, which wouldn't show up until 1998.
In early September, I finished "Encouragement," the story about the 1996 World Championship contest in Harrison Hot springs. John Schnurer sent me the last missing piece, a quote by Galileo. I had a good time at the contest, and I like this story. If you'd like a copy, Email me. Due to typography it is available only in hard copy.
Later in September I took some time off from work with the intent of riding to Colorado. I'd gotten as far as Tehachapi when a powerful storm blew in, dropping snow just about everywhere between where I was and where I wanted to go. Retreat! I had plenty of time for a restart. A heat wave followed the storm; riding a motorcycle through 110-degree heat just isn't my idea of fun. New motorcycle or no I just stayed home.
The free-pile revolution had just been stalled by the heat when Don Tidwell sent me his vacation hike write-up in HTML format, with images. This looked neat, and simple to make. It was also timed well in that I was on vacation, and had just received my new computer, rebuilt after it blew up. To make this long story short, two weeks later I had my own Web site. [October 2000 update: you're looking at the outgrowth of that first attempt, on its third anniversary.]
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