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98P-15 "Dialog" | ||
| Yesterday's sculpture was good, but didn't fulfill the promise completely. It was interesting, but conventional. I know what the tools will do; now I want to break the mold. |
| Build number: | 98P-15 |
| Title: | "Dialog" |
| Date: | September 20 |
| Location: | Venice Breakwater, south side |
| Start: | 1400; building time: 3 hours (approximate) |
| Height: | 3.2 feet |
| Base: |
5 feet X 2 feet, broad V plan |
| Photography: | last part of a roll E100S-135 (roughly 25 exposures) w/WR |
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Dan Doubleday did a stunning sculpture at Harrison: "Talking to the Moon," a girl lying on a crescent moon. Both figures have expressive faces, but the design is what stands out in my mind. With that in mind, I sampled sand until I find a good spot, then built a pile. The collapsible bucket Don gave me came in handy for getting the borrow pit started. I didn't have to dig so deeply to get water. The base was long and curved, gradually rising toward the south. After that end was about a foot tall, I built a big tower near the other end, and a shorter one on the south end. I piled more sand in the saddle, but this never got consolidated very well and was hard to carve. Another problem is the peripheral sand. Because the pile is made of a stack of uncontained layers, the outer inch or so of each layer never gets compacted. Would the sharp tools help trim this off, so I could get at the more solid sand inside? I kept expecting Alvin to show up. He'd gone to the contest at Zuma, but told me he wanted to be back here for more sand work. No call before I left, no sign of him on the beach. He must have found something really good in Zuma. Dan's crescent moon became a multiple-curved Y-shaped panel running up the insides of both towers, and down from the saddle. Behind that lower part were complex spaces, many of them connecting in the center or under the tall tower. The day was highly atypical of September, being cool and cloudy. Perfect, by my standards; the beach was uncrowded and the real beach people were there. Barb is one. I've seen her before, passing by on walks, but today she stayed to watch and talk. The uphill side of the sculpture acquired a big space under the saddle, with a concave panel over it and ending halfway up the tall tower. Inside the upper part of the tower I carved a narrow space. This got out of control and poked through the arm of the Y panel, so I cut and trimmed and made the hole look as if I'd planned it all along. One of the keys to successful sand sculpture: turning disaster into serendipity. Barb, a regular passerby, and I talked as I worked around the sculpture aborning. She talked me into leaving some of the rough texture here and there. By the time it was finished, it was wild. From some angles it looked like a sphinx, from others it was indescribable. Big panels pushed inside, separated by narrow slots that connected inside. The lower tower, quite hollowed out, was topped with a good-sized ball, carefully placed to keep its weight where it could be borne. The result had the strongest presence of any small sculpture I've ever made. It stood there, self-confident, owning its share of the beach, looking bigger than it actually was. Barb and I walked around, looking. Michael came by on his evening amble. We all talked as the light came and went through small gaps in the clouds driven by light wind. Sailboats cruised by, southbound slowly. The tide turned and crept up the gradual beach. I had a hard time tearing myself away. A delightful day. | ||||||||||
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All contents copyright 1998 by
Larry Nelson Original: 98-September-21
HTML conversion: October 25 | ||||||||||
98p15rpt.htm 99 February 13