Stones Not Rolling

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

. . . A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together . . . “

Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3.5

Ephemeral art has always frustrated me.  On the one hand, artists create beautiful works of art – pavement chalk art, street art, public art installations – that last only a short time and then are gone, like tears in rain. I have previously mentioned in Bytes that quite some years ago Kate, the boys and I watched Tibetan monks in the National Museum in Canberra making sand art mandalas using coloured sand and implements like sand pens . . .

Son Thomas took me to task afterwards because I had sked one of the monks what they did with the work when it was completed, he told me that they dissolved it in the nearby lake and I apparently rolled my eyes.

In a sense all art is temporary, whether it be a painting in a gallery or a sculpture, although some art survives longer than others.  One would have thought that the ancient Buddha statues in Afghanistan would last thousands of more years but the Taliban destroyed them.  Of the 7 ancient Wonders of the World, only the Great Pyramid survives.  Today at least they can be preserved by way of photographs.

Here is an example about stones I came across in the following sites:

Twisted Sifter:

https://twistedsifter.com/2020/02/beach-stone-land-art-by-jon-foreman/

Bored Panda:

https://www.boredpanda.com/stone-arrangements-beach-land-art-jon-foreman/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter

Some readers were also kind enough to draw my attention to the articles.

This is the commentary from Bored Panda:

Jon Foreman:

Jon Foreman is a creator of various styles of land art, be it with stones or leaves, inland or on beaches. He has even created works in derelict environments using materials such as broken glass or ashes and general debris.  The scale of his work varies massively; he may use stones or driftwood to make something small and minimal. Otherwise he may be seen drawing massive scale sand drawings up to 50 metres across.  Most often the weather and immediate climate will make his work disappear (be blown down/washed away by the tide), and sometimes other people will interfere. This is all part of the creative process and has proven to benefit his work.

Jon Foreman’s website:

https://sculpttheworld.smugmug.com/

His work is beautiful but temporary.  Let me know your thoughts.

Gallery:

A further example of ephemeral art, an item of pavement art that lasts only as long as foot traffic and rain . . .