Monday walk…into the heart of the wood

Must preface this by apologizing for getting behind yesterday and not visiting many posts. Sometimes life happens.Nothing bad, just busy.

We have three more Popper sculptures to view before we leave Morton Arboretum, two today, the last tomorrow. Although this first might seem like “Split Personality” or “Two-Faced”, it is in reality nothing like either of those. According to the artist:

Recalling the inner rings at the centre of a tree trunk, Heartwood offers a lyrical meditation on the interconnectedness of humans and nature. While the work’s image might first appear fractured – with the bust of a woman cleaved in two – on closer looking, a resonant parallel becomes apparent. The heartwood of a tree marks its earliest growth and becomes, with the accumulation of annual ring, the plant’s spine; the wood dense and resistant to decay. 

The outer details are lovely too.

There were still a few flowers in bloom to go along with the autumn leaves.

You may or may not see the same meaning in “Basilica” as the artist did but even if not, it’s fine. Art is in the eye and heart and in the interpretation of the beholder.

Its title borrowed from the Greek word given first to places of gathering and later to those of worship, the work is an invocation to community and communion. While it may be without walls, with no ceiling but the sky, the artist lends Basilica’s two outstretched arms and the space they enclose the sacred resonance of a temple. 

On a very different artistic note, my husband and I have been watching lots and lots of rugby and one of the odd, funny things is that during or at the end of (or sometimes both) English matches and at least some of the 7’s tournaments, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” is played. It’s not just at rugby matches but the “good times never seemed so good” and the opportunity to belt out “So good, so good, so good” and “ba, ba, ba” has made it a favorite of a number of sporting events. That’s what I thought of when seeing this sculpture as it’s certainly reaching out. 🙂 My husband and I sing right along when whenever we hear it but I did not sing out loud this day. 🙂

Jo’s Monday Walk 12.12.22

Monday walk at Morton Arboretum and a double selfie!

Prior to my visit to Illinois, I asked Sue (Mac’s Girl), if she’d like to meet while I was there. We met at Morton Arboretum, in Lisle (pronounced “Lyle”) where the “Human + Nature” sculptures were on exhibit. Sue had been to the exhibit before but one sculpture had proved elusive so our mission was to find it. But today we’re starting with the first three sculptures we found.

Internationally renowned artist Daniel Popper created 15- to 26-foot-tall sculptures exclusively for the Arboretum featured in various locations across its 1,700 acres, leading guests to areas they may not have explored before. It is his largest exhibition to date anywhere in the world.

“Gingko.” I really like this one.

Flower season was past as in late October, but there was a seasonal display of color nonetheless. Decorative kale is so beautiful.

I believe this one is “Hallow.” Although this appears to be wood, it’s not.

The sculptures are constructed of glass-reinforced concrete, fiberglass and steel. They each weigh several metric tons. They are painted to look like wood.

From what I can determine, this sports the puzzling name of “UMI.” Don’t ask me. The sculptor chose the names and isn’t saying what they mean, asking each individual to determine what the sculpture and name mean. We thought this one might show the two-faced-ness of the world these days. Makes Janus and his two faces seem rather above board! Now that I think of it, this is what my high school students thought I could do. They couldn’t understand how I could see them doing things they shouldn’t. I never enlightened them as to what peripheral vision meant. 🙂 Better to let them fear my powers!

Finally, we have a never-before-seen selfie of the two of us: Sue to the left and I on the right. 🙂

Jo’s Monday Walk 12.5.22

(All quotes are from the Morton Arboretum website.)

Monday walk…out and about in Sheridan

Art about the town isn’t just the perquisite big cities. It’s popping out everywhere including Sheridan, Wyoming, one of Wyoming’s largest cities at under 20,000. When our younger daughter and I went to town one day, she asked to walk past the mural across from the library. Here are a couple shots from that, starting with her doing something I couldn’t do, even if I weren’t taking a photo.

Cee’s Oddball Photo Challenge 2015, Week 51…hammerhead sighting

These aren’t the sort of hammerheads you have to run from in “Jaws 2.” We came across these sculptures in the same park where we found the giant rabbit.  What’s the meaning?  Trying to hammer out differences? I don’t know, but they’re certainly eye-catching!  Truculent looking with a whole lot of attitude, but eye-catching.

For more oddballs, just click.

Wordless Wednesday…Here’s lookin’ at you!