tsuki no mon ni: yurei no mori

tsuki no mon ni: yurei no mori
tsuki no mon ni: yurei no mori

Friday 29 January 2010

moonlight sonata for moongate

there was a concert (los van van) at the park last night, so i was able not only to see the sculpture illuminated with the solar LED spots i'd installed, but also with the nearly-full moon. the response from my audience continues to be enthusiastic, and the sculpture is accumulating quite a narrative of love and loss. i was especially intrigued by a message left by 11 year old brendan shields: if anyone knows brendan, i would love to meet him.

the maquette for this piece is complete, and will be for sale at a special sculpturekeywest fundraiser held on 10th march, at a venue to be determined... so stay tuned.

there is no schedule for the burn, yet, but the park management continue to be very supportive of this event. the determining factors will be meteorolgical: too much wind and/or not enough rain may subvert the burn plan.

Sunday 17 January 2010

part 1 is complete...

Sunday, 17th January: the installation started Friday, 8th January, with the raising of 2 12’ steel poles and the completion of the lumber frame on the ground. On Saturday we delivered the truck and the bulk of the limb- and branch-material in a cold rain & 30mph winds in a temperature of about 50F. Sunday i delivered the second load of material and lashed the 18’ lumber frame to three 19’ aluminum ladders which were expected to stabilize the ring while it was being raised into place between the steel stand-pipes. Raising of the limber frame was not possible Sunday as the wind had accelerated to 35mph; temperature remained about 50F. Monday morning the temperature fell to 41F, but the wind had fallen and I successfully raised the lumber frame. Before the end of that day I had secured the frame to the stand-pipes and applied most of the first load of material to the frame, starting at the top of the arc. Tuesday I used up the remainder of the material I had previously delivered. Wednesday I built and installed the lectern & legend and loaded the last of my material at the studio. Thursday I used up that last load of material, installed the solar LED spot lamps, and left messages for my lost loved ones-- mary, grandfather fred schork, grandfather harry newell, ron herron (former exec. director of AIDS Help), and ex-girlfriend olga solomatina. In the late afternoon I made some of the attached photos, and consider this phase of the installation to be essentially complete.

a visit from mike hetnz, the photo manager for the key west citizen, resulted in a beautiful photo of the moongate on the front page of the Saturday edition. Also featured in the photo was key west resident robin robinson, who was leaving a message for her late husband steve Breslau, who died last march. My time spent with robin at the sculpture was very intimate and emotional, and I think that even if I have no other experiences there for the next three months, robin gave me a big gift there: I got my pay check in the form of a close human connection, a shared experience, and the perfect expression of what this moongate is all about: forest of ghosts (or forest of souls, if you prefer) has become what I most desired: a monument to love and loss.
Stay tuned for further developments.