Winter Stars Midden–The Land

WINTER STARS MIDDEN

I’ve been working on a project for The Land/An Art Site in Mountainair, NM. It began with the idea of winter stars fallen from the sky to earth. The Land has lots of pack rat middens, which are fascinating, and can be studied by archeologists to understand climate change. etc.
Last summer Richard I went to Star Axis, Charles Ross’s massive installation in the desert–a pyramid constructed to view the sky and the progression of the North Star. I was thinking of the opposite, something private. Tom Cates, who along with E, Nuevo curates The Land said “an inner north star.”
I began talking to sculptor Leah Stravinsky about collaborating. After much discussion, our working idea is glass bowls or containers of some kind, with words on them.
Here is the text in progress. the first version is a split pantoum–obviously too long to install but it is the basis or wellspring. Then I trimmed it down to just each essential line, without repetition. We’re trimming it down even further, to words for the glass.
If you scroll down in the blog you’ll see Leah Stravinsky’s photographs of The Land–although we haven’t yet determined the actual site. I’ll post more as this emerges.

winter stars, pebbles in the arroyo
what do you gather in, hold

islands in the seas, the body
as an image of the cosmos

what do you gather in, hold
alaya–a storehouse of senses and seeds

as an image of the cosmos
a place marked and swiftly abandoned

alaya–a storehouse of senses and seeds
like a Anasazi stone granary

a place marked and swiftly abandoned
Pleiades are a wound in the constellation

an Anasazi stone granary
Sirius, Betelgeuse, Aldeboron

Pleiades are a wound in the constellation
of the starry horned Bull

Sirius, Betelgeuse, Aldeboron
color is vibration made visible

the starry horned Bull
is just a kiln of suns

color is vibration made visible
fused across empty space

is just a kiln of suns
crucible, calligraphic

fused across empty space
distance is distance from the self

crucible, calligraphic
what does it mean to be lost

distance is distance from the self
the map drawn in the dirt erased by wind

what does it mean to be lost
even the blind know the horizon

the map drawn in the dirt erased by wind
a shadow falls behind, as does the past

even the blind know the horizon
a cast of dried mud and raindrops

a shadow falls behind, as does the past
anthills, packrat middens

a cast of dried mud and raindrops
your words written in radium

anthills, packrat middens
architecture is narrative

your words written in radium
your words written in dust

architecture is narrative
the opening exhibition is Polaris

your words written in dust
a meaningful north star

the opening exhibition is Polaris
my souvenir of the Milky Way

an inner north star
or destination

my souvenir of the Milky Way
islands in the seas, the body

or destination–
winter stars, pebbles in the arroyo

***

winter stars, pebbles in the arroyo
what do you gather in, hold

islands in the seas, the body
as an image of the cosmos

alaya–a storehouse of senses and seeds
a place marked and swiftly abandoned

like a Anasazi stone granary
Pleiades are a wound in the constellation

Sirius, Betelgeuse, Aldeboron
the starry horned Bull

color is vibration made visible
is just a kiln of suns

fused across empty space
crucible, calligraphic

distance is distance from the self
what does it mean to be lost

the map drawn in the dirt erased by wind
even the blind know the horizon

a shadow falls behind, as does the past
a cast of dried mud and raindrops

anthills, packrat middens
your words written in radium

architecture is narrative
your words written in dust

the opening exhibition is Polaris
a meaningful north star

my souvenir of the Milky Way
or destination

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