Vortex Cone

Vortex Cone, originally uploaded by e s c h e r.

An alternative title for this would be ARRRGGGHHH!

What a total pain in the backside this was. I had to carry it up onto the rocks to take the photos and several sections came apart as I did so. I picked a spot and started to assemble it. Each time I would get another layer fixed on, one underneath would come loose. This happened over and over again to the point where I wanted to throw it off the cliff! Finally I did get it fully assembled then the sun went in, the wind got up and blew it over! Grrrrrrr...

So I started again trying to assemble it, perhaps twenty times before I got it ready again. Now ready with my camera I looked at it through the viewfinder, something wasn't right. It needed to be straighter. So I went right ahead and undid what had just taken me half an hour to do. I know, "anal" doesn't quite say it.

As I tried to get the 5th from the top section on it split, snapped the thorns holding it together and pinged open. No! Very carefully I reassembled this circle and hoped that it would just hold together long enough to get the rest on top. Finally I managed it an hour and a half later, fully assembled and ready to go. Yet it still wasn't symmetrical enough to my eye. Now, though, it had reached the point where any more fiddling would have meant its demise and I would have to go home with no shots at all. That's ephemeral land art for you - you can only push it so far.

This is made entirely from thorns, sticks and twigs - nothing else. I had no plans today for what I was going to do or where I was going to do it. It is a fine warm day, there is nice light and beautiful skies so I just had to do something (what was it I said about typical Easter weather)? When I awoke this morning the first thing that popped into my head was a cone made out of concentric circles. I didn't know if it would be possible but I thought I would try. The result isn't as neat and tidy as I would have liked, hopefully the next attempt (if the therapy will help me forget the tribulations with this one) will be neater.

I liked the spiral shadow this cast, that is why I chose the name for this sculpture. This is another where I cannot decide which photos are best.