99P-7 "Looney Extravaganza"

By now the process has become routine. Put tools and camera into the pack, pick up the skateboard and roll. This morning is different; Andi is at the door as I open it. "There's sewage on my lawn." The cleanout trap is overflowing. More plumbing trouble. Well, deal with that later.

Build number:	99P-7
Title:	"Looney Extravaganza"
Date:	August 1
Location:	Venice Breakwater, south side
Start:	0645; building time: approx 3 hours
Height:	3.1 feet
Base:	2 X 6 feet, irregular plan
Photography:	11 exposures on RA 135-24 w/WR

My skateboard skills are improving. Slaloming down Rose Av to the beach obviates a stop for speed control, and I roll smoothly into the parking lot and curve around to the south. There aren't many people around this early; the sun is low, the air cool. There's enough good sand here for thousands of sculptures. Water is a problem again, but I'll just have to be patient. The pile goes up and spreads, taking on various extensions and bends, until its plan looks rather like a fish hook with a big blob hanging from its bend. The far end of the blob ends up as a short tower, the hook's shank a slight upslope to its broad-topped end, and the hook area built up into a three-foot tower. There are various ways to look at it. I decide to make a reprise of yesterday's nice saddle effect, but end it under the central tower and cut a big space through. Business on the beach gradually builds up. The fishermen go home, perferring to ply their craft at the low tide. A few surfers are desperate enough for rides that they're out on the flat water. On the downhill side a long shoulderblade starts on the east end and narrows over the space cut through the saddle, ending in curves against the tower. I have plenty of time so take pains to fit the parts well and round their ends. Making each part better and fitting them well satisfies my urge to make detailed sculptures, and the result looks better than last year's overabundance of parts. Rounded edges are a compromise. It's very difficult to make a good sharp edge with free-piled sand, and a bad sharp edge is ugly. Rounding the ends makes them look better, but there has to be enough separation to make it look like something other than an accident. This requires a delicate touch anyway, especially as the sculpture dries under the blazing sun. The key is to make bold parts that look strong even with rounded edges. I cut deep hollows, curve pieces around each other. While all this goes on the tide rises and I talk with the man who watched yesterday's sculpture. He's been just about everywhere and is currently trying to figure out what to do with his two months of vacation time. I don't understand the problem. The whole east end still needs to be carved. Well, why not try this? I carve the east end into a sort of fish shape wrapped over the top and separated from the saddle near the middle. Its tail ends in mid-air, over a space that shows daylight from the south. The big tower has a smooth top wrapped around a couple of spaces. One goes through to the south side, the other is just for lightening; I want the far side solid. On the west things get a little more involved, with tight curves and a narrow space. This is balanced by a bigger space through the ridge connecting it to the tower, and I hollow this out deeply and make the lowest part of the west blob a a sphere, thinking of Larry. It looks good. A wave enters the borrow pit, gently reminding me that time's up. There's clean-up to do, defining pieces better, rubbing a curve smooth, and still more that could be done when I quit and pick up the camera. I shoot a round, then a couple of choice angles and I'm out of film. Free from the camera I just stand there and look at the sculpture. It's quite a sight. Extravagant curves, gaping spaces and narrow slots. From some angles it looks grown rather than made. I like it. Waves are pushing to the upper end of the borrow pit. Finally one hits the sculpture's base. It seems sturdy, but I've been working so fast that it seems I made an engineering mistake. One more wave hits and the central tower fails straight down, relaxing, surrounding the base with chunks of sand. My companion is amazed. I'm just a little surprised. Then the east end cracks, cracks again and slowly falls. It's time to leave anyway; lots of people are on the bike path and the sun is getting high. I push north, make a body-surfing stop and then roll over to the farmer's market. It's a great life. Except for plumbing. And work.

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