Here we are. Two more days left of 2008 and on to 2009. This perhaps has been the fastest year of my life so far. It seems we were just celebrating the good fortune of 2008 with friends and family and now we'll be back to celebrate another round of seasons. I've posted this image of Jim Denevan's, sand art, Surfers in Circles to remind me that time is a construct. Denevan brings an appreciation for nature and the ephemeral passage of time to his art. This was made not far from my home where he often draws in the sand with a stick at low tide in Santa Cruz. He uses a rake to make the designs but it's really all about perspective, whether you view the design from the cliff top or on the shoreline. Is one perspective more awesome than the other? "People always ask how it feels to have them wash away," says Denevan, "but who wouldn't want it to wash away."
When I think about all the little things throughout the year that I get stressy about, I think I'm just going to let them wash away because when 2010 comes around all the edges will have softened.
But what about the bigger stresses in life? There's a picture book titled, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears by Emily Gravett that I've been thinking of lately. Besides being a little treasure of a book for it's innovative design (fold-out maps included), it lightly describes phobias on every page starting with arachnophobia. Little mouse has all these phobias, and he is certainly afraid of cats with good reason. But this clever book ends with musophobia, the fear of mice. Yes little mouse, there are people afraid of you! I will keep this book in mind when I feel timid or procrastinate in work due to fear of big cats.
As I'm not inclined to keep a lot of New Year's Resolutions, I don't make them. But I do believe in writing down everything I would like to do in 2009. It's always fun at the end of the year to see how many of them have happened. And keep in mind, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!
Monday, December 29, 2008
New Year Circles in the Sand
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Thanks for introducing me to Jim Denevan. I know and love the art of Andy Goldsworthy... I need to search out the work of more folks like these.
ReplyDeleteZ-Dad
Hello Z-Dad, There's a good book out titled Earthworks And Beyond: Contemparary Art In the Landscape by John Beardsley, 2006. But I don't think Denevan's work is in it. I've been a big fan of environmental art since college.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome--the sand, the quote, the thoughts. Thanks. I knew I couldn't be the only one who liked Annie Dillard (but I was in high school)! :)
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