99P-12 "Eruption" Photography by Rich Johnson

"Hi, Larry." "Hi, Larry." He has come all the way from Virginia to see for himself what Venice Beach sand is like. After some minor organizational problems we get ourselves sorted out and headed for the beach. He drives, I ride the bike with the trailer full of equipment.

Build number:	99P-12
Title:	"Eruption"
Date:	September 12
Location:	Venice Breakwater, south side
Start:	1500; building time: approx 2 hours
Height:	3.75 feet
Base:	2 X 2.5 feet, monolithic tower on plinth
Photography:	none (Rich got a round before vandalism)

1. Out of Synch The day isn't really appropriate for full-scale sculpture, with a tide peaking just as we arrive. The sand at the high-tide line is reasonable and I start the pile as Larry seeks lunch. I expected it to be easier to decouple myself from the process and proceed with what will make Larry's vacation work well for him. Even on an off day, however, my usual fierceness comes to the fore. Larry is used to a more relaxed pace and the two of us build a pile in just about the same amount of time it'd take me alone. By that time the day is well along into afternoon. The plan is for Larry to carve the top of the pile and I'll do the bottom half. Used to my style of working all over I stay out of his way, not really noticing that he tends to work in one place for a long time. He starts with a four-sided structure. Very carefully he works on flattening the surfaces with the loop tool. "Here. Try the Vertical Roadgrader; it's designed for taking out lumps like that. Drag it carefully toward the edge so you don't break it off." "How do you do that?" "Lessen the pressure as you approach the edge. When that's finished, drag it downward to take out the small cusp." I follow him with the video camera for a time, then get some stills of him carving. I've been watched pretty thoroughly through the years but never spent much time observing someone else at work. It's interesting, but before very long my hands start itching. He has carved about half of the very top. The tide has dropped, leaving an expanse of nice, dark, fine sand. I grab the scoop and head down the beach. "How are you going to work on this if you're doing a free-pile?" "I'll solve that problem when it comes up." Next week. 2. Curves The sand is very good, but I've waited too long and most of the water has already drained out. A five-gallon bucket solves that problem and the pile goes up quickly and solidly. If I feel the rocks and shells I remove them. There's not much time; my shadow under the strong wind is lengthening. I pick up the Steel Finger and the frosting spatula, thinking of doing a "two-tool sculpture." It'll have to be quick. On the south I smooth the sand all the way from bottom to top. The eastern side becomes broadly concave. Beginning on that surface's north edge I cut some scallops and wrap them around the north side. Above those I define an edge to the top and hollow out inside to connect with a facet on the south. The resulting looping arch appears to float over three layers. The layers end halfway across the north side. A deep cut inside, separating north from south, is a fake. The south surface tucks under the looping arch's tail. With some more detail hollows and undulations on the south it's pretty well finished. Short time may be another tool. Quickness forces an act of confidence: right or wrong, I have to do something. So, cut and trust. Cut and work it out. "I can see I'll never finish this. You want to come up and help?" I'm reasonably satisfied with mine. "Yes. I'll clean this up a bit and then head up there." The top looping arch vibrates visibly as I brush it. I could feel this as I worked on it; heavy parts on thin towers tend to do this. It requires a delicate but firm touch, balancing enough pressure to affect the work against the obvious fragility. It stands there, glowing in the afternoon light. 3. Failure Besides the four-sided open structure, Larry has made some shallow cuts on the northwest and an arch above them. I go to work on the southeast, taking big chunks of sand away. Again, there's no time for subtlety. From his four-sided structure I drop a long bulging curve. "Do you have anyplace over there for the terminus of a space?" "Where are you?" "About as high as this horse-head shape." "I think I can fit something in." It's a race with the sun. We're near the equinox and had a late start. I make bold cuts for big elements. Around to the west, I cut under Larry's four-sided castellation with three angled cuts, then punch through to the central space we completed. The castellation is held up by a slanting leg that tucks in a few inches above the ground. The long bulging curve looks too straight from the west, so I cut back the bottom to increase the bulge. Faint alarms start to ring. Remember the sand, Larry. The alarm is buried in the need to move sand. Around to the east there's a big area that needs carving. I remove the little bit of sand that Larry left to hold up his arch--it isn't needed--and continue the line downward to give the bulging leg something as a backdrop. "Do you have any place over there for this space to go?" I have a nice narrow undulant entry just begging for daylight. "Ummm. How about here?" "Fine." Meanwhile, the area below the slot needs development so I pick up the Blue Tool and scrape toward me, making a nice concave. On the second stroke my leg gets buried in falling chunks of sand, some of which hit the beach with a resounding thud. "Oops." Well, at least the little one. . ."What?" The top of the free-pile sculpture has been knocked off. "It was that guy who said it was him against the world. He threw the scoop, then ran." There's a first time for everything. Malicious vandalism while I'm still here. A day already difficult just became painful. "I'm glad you got some pictures of it, Rich." "Yes, I got a complete round." I'd been waiting for my hands to be less sandy. The failed half of the big sculpture was mostly mine; Larry was working on the far side and the split hardly affected him. He continues to work as I pick things up. 4. Clean-up "Lorna might come down. She had to take Anna home if she didn't want to join us. It's rather late; she's probably not coming. Wait a minute. There she is!" Larry's introduction to Lorna came via videotape done on New Year Day. We were all fairly antic, and Lorna was imitating a bird. Larry still thinks of her as the Lorna Bird. I pull down the kites, look for tools and load the trailer. Larry photographs as the light goes away. Walking away from the chill wind, we rendezvous at the local Thai restaurant and get warm.

Top of Page Library Human Touch Museum 1999 Sculptures 1998 1997 1996 1995 Text and HTML copyright 1999 by Larry Nelson lord_chaos@compuserve.com Photographs copyright 1999 by Rich Johnson bm389@lafn.org Written 99 September 13, 14 HTML conversion October 3

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