European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Earth Art modern creations reflect prehistoric traditions by Nancy Plevin the associated press set in a world of desert scrub High mesas big skies Are two monumental works of Art meant to connect the Earth to the heavens Man to both. Two new York sculptors picked new Mexico s Remote Cowboy country to create their Quot earthworks reflecting prehistoric artistic traditions but with a decidedly modern twist. Internationally known minimalist Walter de Maria rammed 400 stainless steel spikes into a Basin ringed by Distant Blue peaks Northeast of the Catron county town of Quemado. The lightning Field resembling a giant bed of nails or a sparse Forest of thin Barren trunks was installed in an area known for frequent thunderstorms. The land supported a working cattle ranch when it was bought by the new York based Dia Center for the arts which commissioned the piece owns it. In another part of new Mexico Charles Ross has carved a 76-foot wedge out of the top of a Sandstone Mesa on the Western Edge of the great Plains in san Miguel county. Out of the chasm he is creating Star Axis a naked Eye Observatory based on precession a Earth s 26,000-year wobble on its Axis a its relationship to the Star Polaris. When the work in finished a walk up a staircase inside a buried 11-Story stainless steel tube aligned to the Earth s Axis will reveal Ever widening circles of sky the location of Polaris at various times in history from 11,000 . To . 15,000. Quot it s a walk backward Forward through time Quot Ross said during a recent tour of the site. Quot it s about experiencing our alignment with the stars. Quot it s from Here a he says tapping his Chest Quot to out there Quot pointing to the sky. Part of the tube will run through a 55-foot-tall red Granite Pyramid atop the Mesa. A chamber inside will offer another View of the night sky. Stairs will line an outer Wall of the Pyramid for a third perspective a Quot Shadow Fields a a Bootie shaped area surfaced with White caliche a will contain the moving Sun Shadow created by the Pyramid. A my Job is to focus sky geometry Down into a human scale a says Ross has a Bachelor s degree in mathematics a masters degree in sculpture from the University of California at Berkeley. Quot our society has launched the greatest exploration of space Ever known yet there is Little in our daily lives to remind us of our personal connection to the stars a the artwork sits on a 76,000-acre working cattle ranch the corrugated dirt Road leading to the Crest of Ross Mesa is a Gauntlet of glowering longhorn bulls. The 53-year-old artist says he searched the Southwest for four years for land that would complement his vision. He had found what he considered the perfect site in 1976 phoned the owner of the land . Culbertson jr., former state representative gubernatorial candidate cattle rancher charter member of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. After explaining his concept Ross says Culbertson told him a that sounds like just the sort of thing we need around Here. How much land do you need a Quot i told him a Square mile. And Fie said hell we be got plenty of those. Drive around the ranch pick one out Quot Culbertson has since died the rest of his land has been sold. Ross has asked that the precise location of Star Axis be kept secret until the work is finished is opened to the Public. Ross has paid for much of Star Axis with the proceeds from his other works prism sculptures that cast Large shafts of pure color into architecture spaces Quot dynamite drawings Quot which represent the behaviour of Light at the subatomic level. Ross earned International prominence in 1972 when he used a Lens to Burn a yearlong record of the Sun s path onto a series of wooden planks. The finished image serendipitously revealed a double reverse spiral. Star Axis which is a decade a half in the making about three years from completion has Cost $700,000 so far. Ross expects to spend $1.2 million before he is finished. Ross says the process has been slow because funding which now is growing had been sparse. Quot in the clamor to possess the real purpose of Art a which is to reveal aspects of the larger natural order a has often been forgotten a he says. Quot the Earth can to really be owned there s too much emphasis on Art solely for the Earth Art movement which began in the 1960s, rejects collectible Art gallery settings. It often evokes the creations of ancient Man. Stonehenge the lines on the Plains of Nazca in Peru the anasazi Sun Dagger at Chaco Canyon in new Mexico. Quot Earth Art installations Are integrated into the environment Quot says Suzanne Jamison administrative coordinator for Star Axis in Santa be. Quot they resonate with the qualities of everything that s around them the changes in Light As Well As the Trees the Bushes the Birds. In most traditional languages there is no word for Art. That s because you can to talk about it As separate from the creative process from digging in the Garden from what you do in daily but Ross says his work Only coincidentally reflects ancient Man s efforts. Quot i done to have any ancient images but i am making a place to remember our connection with the stars a he says. De Maria will not explain his Art. Quot he does t want to limit the interpretation Quot of the lightning Field says Charles Wright of the Dia Center. The same year work was finished on the lightning Field de Maria dumped 280,000 pounds of dirt into a new York City studio called it new York Earth room. In 1987, he Laid 325 tons of hard White Stone from Europe Africa Asia the americas on a floor in Stuttgart Germany to create 5 continent sculpture. The lightning Field which reportedly Cost about $500,000 to build in 1977, is a play of Light color perspective illusion. At various times of Day depending on the Angle of the Sun the poles can virtually disappear from sight or appear in full As dancing shafts of Brilliant White Light. They can seem uniform symmetrical or As randomly thrown javelins of varied sizes. Backed by mountains they Are White against the sky they Are Black. A visitor walking through the Forest of steel finds poles that appeared to be on a straight line Are suddenly discovered to run diagonally. The poles an average 20 feet tvs inches tall 2 inches in diameter Are planted in a rectangular Grid 1 mile by nearly two thirds of a mile. Because of the lands rolling contour the tallest pole is 26 feet 9 inches while the shortest is 15 feet. The poles Are placed 220 feet apart their lathe pinpoint tops form a perfect plane. Quot the invisible is real a de Maria 56, wrote in his sole Public comment on the piece. Quot the sum of the facts does not constitute the work or determine its Colorado san Miguel county Santa be Albuquerque Quemado new Mexico l Mexico Texas a amps above 400 giant steel spikes in a new Mexico Field attract bolts of lightning. Right a Star Axis is under construction in san Miguel county. Page 14 Abco the stars stripes wednesday november 27, 1991 the stars stripes abcs Page 15
