Cope Aesthetic

A contractor asked me to do a proper dry stone wall, using stone from a local quarry, in front of a house that he had just finished building, for a client up near Meaford Ontario.

 

I met with him, decided where it would go, we agreed on a price and I built the wall. For the several weeks, I think it took me to build it, I never met the lady who owned the house. 

About a week later I got the call from the contractor. He told me the lady had moved in and had seen the wall. 

I asked him what she thought of her wall. 

"Actually," he said " she got quite emotional. She was crying."

"Oh wow" I said, "I'm glad to hear she liked it."

"No, no. She hated it. She said, all the upright stones on the top of the wall made it look like a prison. She wants you to come back and take them all off. "

I couldn't believe it.

I came back and took them off, and coped the wall with dull flat stones.

 

Driveby Compliments

When I was just finishing up this new dry stone wall entrance gate we built last year, I was delighted to be approached by a lovely young lady, who had pulled up behind my truck and began to eagerly tell me how wonderful the wall looked .

I commended her on her good taste and began to tell her some of the more interesting aspects of the project. I  then asked if she might like to see the wall from the estate side too? She thanked me and said " I would, but actually, I’m the gardener here, and I need to get by your truck!"   

 

Balancing the Kapla-Sphere.

There is a video of me on Instagram with a sphere I made for my granddaughter, out of Kapla blocks. It shows me lifting it up on to a tower of blocks, while she watches excitedly . Apparently, it attracted a lot of attention. (Eighty-one thousand views so far, after having posted it only three days ago.) I was, of course, delighted to see all the activity and read the many comments. Some of them very amusing. 

The video seems to very effectively capture the tension of trying to build something that could fall down at any moment. It reminded me of watching Andy Goldsworthy building his fragile installations in the video Rivers and Tides.

Anyway, as you can see above, in the clips from a that event, I lifted it successfully. 

I began to think of how similar the activity of stone balancing is to balancing wooden spheres.

I realized that all that excitement could now be brought indoors, and all kinds of safer balancing can be done on the living room coffee table!

So here's the thing, I'm already thinking of all the wooden block 'rock shapes' that are crying out to be 'balanced', starting of course with more spheres and then moving on to wooden cubes, on their edge, and even more challenging irregular shapes.

Maybe it will become a trend and go viral, reaching thousands of new followers.  Ha.

Our Stoney Shelter

Stone will always be our shelter. It protects us from all the other elements. It is the embodiment  the archetype of all matter. Its mass has the structural strength to stand up to the very gravity that pulls all things down. No sunscreen, no clothing, no shield, no barrier, no other material, no other manmade substance, can withstand the seemingly constant onslaught of deception, or the hopelessness of unreality, or the corruption of power, like real stone. Most things can be fake, but not stone.

 

Connecting the stones

Breaching at an angle towards the hedgerow,  this VW bug size specimen , this iceberg of a boulder , with its exposed surface , scarred with years of having been battered by farm implements being dragged over it, is waiting .  Just waiting 

 

Most farmers hate stones.  And the  stones? I suspect they don’t hate farmers. Maybe they even forgive all the smashing and crunching and burying , and waiting.

Big boulders that are mostly hidden beneath the surface are difficult to remove . This boulder, would like to join its friends, the ones in the hedge row over there . This fellow has been many years out in the field waiting to be relocated . Would  he be lonely? Stones seem to like to be together. 

Farmers do their part. For years and years, stones from the fields are all collected and stacked at the perimeters. The long stony strands along the fence lines are creating a kind of gossamer (albeit hefty) interdependent network of fauna and fieldstone. Not unlike mushrooms. Fields, continue to be cleared from stones, but become more and more surrounded by them. Eventually the fields form a kind of cellular pattern that can be seen from the sky.  The stones are connecting the lots. The landscape is bubblingly alive .

 

Dry Stone Waterfall

Back in June of 2016 we sent a grant proposal to the Canada Council detailing a unique land installation in Fenelon Falls on an island in the Trent-Severn Waterway. The project was initiated by a handful of enthusiastic townspeople who were actively involved in finding a solution, that would not just deal with the deteriorating cliff face on the south side of the island, but also be an aesthetic stone wall structure that the public could enjoy seeing, rather than having it continue to be a fenced off ‘area.

From the bridge the cliff face needing 'shoring up can be partially seen between the trees.

A possible rock face repair, merely shoring up the steep hill with armour stone, was one possible idea but the individuals  involved in town planning looked to find a better solution. The dry stone design that I proposed , along with several renderings of what it would look like, was accepted by everyone involved, including a representative of the Trent Canal authority and so began plans to finance the project

A formal request for a Canada Council grant was drafted and submitted, specifying a budget that was not excessive, and presented a thorough description of the work involved in not only structurally rebuilding the crumbling section of the island but also implementing an artistic ‘waterfall’ stone installation into the design.

 I had a lot of help with the wording of the grant document, for which I was very thankful. It included  the bios of several skilled dry stone wallers who would be working on the project with me, and a detailing of the proposed two-month schedule for completion of the project .

Unfortunately we did not get the grant.  

I include here some of the first renderings of what is essentially a conceptual art project, which also included the structural remediating of a low terraced outcropping. The idea was to use natural stone to look like a naturally occurring terraces of exposed rock face, through which, or over which, a small dry river creek, or ‘geological vein’ of different material would, by having stones fitted at right angles to the rest of the terraced stonework, give the suggestion of cascading water. To give a further appearance of water going over the terraces , boulders woulf be tastefully placed to look as natural as possible. 

 

In November of 2019 I submitted a formal proposal along with this animated video https://thinking-stoneman.blogspot.com/search?q=handhenge to the organizers of Burning Man proposing the idea to create a large dry stone installation in the Nevada desert, titled Handhenge. The 100 ton, mica schist structure was to be built in August of 2020 by a handful of North American wallers, including myself, five days prior to the actual nine day event, and then taken down and removed completely, afterwards. 

When I think back on it now, the improbability of the design, and the likely hood of successfully organizing and completing such a massive undertaking on schedule, makes me smile. No doubt it would have been (excuse the pun) way too much of a 'handful'. And so it I was with some relief that I read a couple weeks later, the letter from the Burning Man committee saying politely our idea had been rejected. Ironically, almost as if the universe wanted to make sure we didn't go there to the desert and fail spectacularly, the entire Burning Man event had to be cancelled for that year because of Covid.

The short animated video Handhenge visualization itself took a long enough time to make, That should have been a clue to what we might have walked into.  I did have fun writing the proposal though. In a way the concept was such a 'fitting' structure,  in terms of reflecting Burning Man's basic theme of extravagant impermanence. The wording, while at times seems in retrospect a bit bombastic, does presents a number of contrasting concepts involving our relationship to stone throughout history.

Handhenge will be erected by an international group of skilled stone workers to simulate an ancient stone circle which will consist of ten dry laid columns, created to look like the fingers of two hands, reaching upward through the desert playa. Instead of using single, monolithic boulders, the free-standing columns forming the ten fingers will be created with many, smaller, (multi-mini-lithic?) random-shaped chunks of mica schist stone material...

The visual link connecting such a variety of dissimilar shaped stones into the constrained parameters of specific human form, will be immediately apparent as one approaches the structure*. This unique piece of land art invites those who enter, to experience a crossover from a rather unfamiliar inanimate world to the familiar animate shape of human hands, but on a monumental scale...

The 'anthropro-metamorphic' nature of the stone 'fingers' forming the enclosure becomes an obvious theme within the Handhenge experience. Small human hands have transformed many tons of stones to form two monumental hands. The feeling of permanence, usually associated with such an ancient looking stone circle as this, is dynamically contrasted with the temporary status it will have -- as does everything at Burning Man. So many of the other structures in this ephemeral desert city are slated to be consumed by fire, and the message of impermanence of it all is felt and witnessed. However, poignancy of knowing these giant stone hands embracing the beholder, will also soon crumble and every trace of stone removed, leaves us in a state of uneasiness. Handhenge due to its obvious fleeting quality and the immediacy associated with all dry stone construction process, conveys a sense of noble futility...

The reaction to this massive ‘slight of hand’ is one, not just of wonder (at the futility of it all), but hopefully one of quiet acceptance.

The idea of huge dry stone hands reaching out from the desert plane, is not that easy a concept to grasp. It may well have been be even more difficult to have build.  On one hand you have the momentousness of the 'momentary' and yet on the other, a jig saw 'minimization' of the monumental.   

 

Christmas Snow Cone Ideas

 

The A B C of Buoyancy

Stone is curiously light.

A-  Because a stone can often seem quite 'buoyant'

B- 'Cause its density, if it is less than the medium it is emerged in, will cause it to float rather than sink.

C - Did you know boats made of stone, and concrete (a kind of manmade stone) will actually float ?

D - Even deep down in the ocean, there are places where certain kinds rocks will stop sinking,

E -  Floating somewhere below, just above the sea bed, it has no weight at all!

F - Getting a stone out of a river, it often feels when you carry it onto the shore, not lighter, but,

G - Heavier. What's going on here?

H- It's possible that we are merely feeling the effect of a displacing of its gravity, as if  it's  

I - Just waiting to climb to a higher plane or energy level ?

J - Keep in mind, if you work with stone, it can be very enlightening too.  

K - Lightness is not just a relative thing, somewhere in the universe it is absolute 

L - Might stone be affected, not so much by gravity, but  ..  

M - Nearly or merely the other way round ?

N - Obviously, aesthetically pleasing, well made edifices of stonework, can look almost 'weightless'.

O - Perhaps, their weightless appearance is the real reality?

P - Quite impressively, floating on top of (and above) one another, the stones in good stonework, are all

Q - Resisting gravity, (displacing it) and so are able together to magically rise to a loftier plane.

R - Stand back and admire the unsurpassed loftiness of mountains, and the many manmade structures throughout history that are built with stone . 

S- Take for instance a dry stone bridge.

T - Under the arch, (not above) water can't help but flow below the tons and tons of perfectly fitted stones. 

U - Virtually, and by comparison, if you think about it, most other things seem far heavier than stone.

V - Double your bet, anything else made by man to resist the downward pull of gravity, will not last as long as stone.

W -  X cept for light itself, stone soars lighter and higher and feels more constant, than the rest of creation .

X - You can sense this raw creativity just waiting to flow out of stone, if you're patient 

Y - Zero in on its 'lightness', experience the 'Zen of Stone' and feel its transcendental quality. 

It will always keep you buoyant . 

  

 

 

Every Snowday is just another ‘stone’ day .

We cant stay home just because it’s freezing  cold and snowy!

We are enrolled in an institution that demands we get going in the morning despite the weather.  

No lazing around playing in the snow for us. 

No having fun skating on the pond 

We stonemen are NOT making snowmen.

It’s not a ‘play’ground 

We’re often searching the ‘frozen’ground for rocks. 

Usually, on the first snow day, (in the school of dry stone walling ) were groping around in the thick blanket of snow searching for our material. 

Today, while others stay warm on their cozy iPads, there are frigid heavy blocks of granite and limestone waiting to be moved and arranged in some new terrace, bench or table of elements .

Because... 

We work in the elements just about every day 

 

But today we stayed home. 🤷

Shadow Work

 

We are shadows who have found themselves in the right place.

A place where stone is light, 

yes, feels light,

weightless, compared to so many things in this life

but also 

'glowing' 

in the late afternoon sun,

smiling back at, and into, our happy silouhetted faces. 

We and the stones have found ourselves

'connected'

by shadows.

not egos,

not machinery,

not any great forethought,

just the play of light and dark 

in a shadowy celebration of life.

This is our work.

Can plumbing be art?

Is it bad art if it doesn't hold water ? 

Does it have to meet code ? 

Do artists who work with copper pipes have to be certified plumbers? 

Now let’s think about stone .

 

Assholes need to have fun too

 

Pebble Town

After seeing the destruction somebody did to the structures kids and their parents and I built, and left there intact, on the west beach, someone who obviously loved the little stone village, we had built, who came across the ruins, wrote an angry letter to the perp, scratched on to the back of a cigaret package. He left it, I think, in hope that the perp would return to see the wreckage, and reading it feel a metaphysical dagger of guilt.

Dry Scone Arch

 

Guarding The StoneZone Watch Tower

With Bow and Arrow

With a Stern Face

And with Low Gap Whiskey

 

Art is Nature is Art

The third phase of the outdoor dry stone gallery is completed. It is an unusual walled enclosure with a narrow hall, window, niches, and two sets of stairs. Found objects of iron and rock are displayed on the walls, along with other manmade works of art.  The installation combines art and natural stone, blurring the division between man's creativity and nature's. The centre 'sculpture' is a life-size, abstract, flowingly beautiful acquisition, sculpted and shaped by natural forces.  

The entire installation is called Path Present Future, and can be seen at the AOG near Frankville Ontario.

 

Richard Rhodes Book

Richard Rhodes has written the definitive book on stonework. His firsthand knowledge of the many ways stone has been used in architecture throughout the ages, as well as sharing his professional hands-on masonry experience, makes this more than a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the history of stone and also the essential properties of stone, along with the fundamentals of how to work with it.

In the book Richard tackles many subjects that sometimes get overlooked  including the many masonry principles that have been lost or ignored by modern masonry practices. Throughout the book, his love of stone and and mankind's enduring connection to it becomes inspiringly evident.

I first heard Richard speak at a symposium in Santa Fe nearly twenty five years ago. His affable and clear way of talking about my favourite subject was more than impressive. Sometime later we had a chance to meet and talk on many subjects including the importance of dry stone walling in art and landscape design.

When he shared that he was going to be in Toronto in 2004 for a conference, I invited him to come and give a presentation here in Port Hope during that same trip. He agreed, and Mary and I  rented the library and made plans to advertise the event in the local paper. I knew a number of wallers and masons who worked with stone locally who would benefit from hearing what he had to share.  

When I asked him over the phone what he would like the title of his talk to be, he replied "Revealing the Hidden Secrets of Free Masonry" 

 

I was somewhat alarmed "Can you do that? Won't that get you (and us) in a lot of trouble?"

I forget his exact answer, but he somehow assured me that it would be okay.

The evening of the presentation, Richard and I arrived at the local library to see a large crowd of mostly men waiting outside. We realized right away that there were too many people to fit in the  conference room we had booked. We quickly had to arrange a second talk for 8:30.

The talk was a riveting explanation of many of amazing properties of stone including little known subjects like quarry sap and bedding planes and the underlying principles explaining how it has been used in the past and how to create proper bonding in order to have it be more structural. He expounded cleverly on other fascinating subjects such as the golden mean, the fibonacci series and various elements of sacred geometry, showing how it all connected with stone.   

It turned out that most of the people who had come to hear Richard were in fact of the Order of Free Masons, who admitted they were there because they didn't know what the secrets were.

In reading an advanced copy of Richard's book which his publishers sent me (which will be available to order mid June) I was delighted to see that along with many new insights and colour photos of impressive stonework throughout the world, the 'secrets' he talked about that evening in Port Hope are also covered in the book.

Whether you're a free mason looking for answers or not, I heartily encourage you to get your copy of Stone - Ancient Craft to Modern Masonry and invite you to come to another presentation we are hoping to have him give in the Port Hope area this summer, 2025.

The book 8 x 10 272 page hardcover book is published by Princeton Architectural Press, and the ISBN number is 978-1-7972-3008-5  

Rhodesworks Website

 

What about a big dry stone Hall of Rock ?

What is the proper definition of a sculpture ?

Or rather, if something isn’t made by a human being, can it (say a natural rock) still be described as a sculpture . And if so, what are the parameters to determine if a boulder say, is piece of art, or just an interesting piece of rock. Maybe it only becomes a sculpture, if it’s shaped a bit by a human, or if it just natural, it has to be displayed or arranged with some sort of human intent, to understand it as art.

Here is a lovely sculpted-looking boulder. Let's move it to a special dry stone gallery we've just built, to put it on display.

 

Framed

Dry stone walls are perhaps the best frame of reference for understanding this enchanted creation we live in.They have a selfless propensity for collective order that puts everything in perspective, and makes us appreciate how attractive everything looks 'framed', not just the fields but especially all the arts and crafts and vernacular architecture it encloses within each landscape.

It’s easy to go fast

 

 

It’s easy to go fast

It's harder to go slow 

It’s easy being strong 

But it's weakness makes us grow 

It’s child’s play to be young

But more effort being old 

It’s easy to give correction 

But harder to be told 

A breeze to just enjoy life 

But harder letting go 

The best is the before date 

But what if you don’t know? 

It’s fine to have a purpose. 

Yet not, if your not choosing 

It’s easy to be lost in thought 

But not the thought of losing 

It’s easy just to take the risk

But hard to pay the cost 

It’s easy saying I don’t care 

But not see what you’ve lost 

It’s easy to expect a break 

the end of every day 

But harder than it needs to be 

When days just slip away 

It’s easy not to think beyond 

The scope of what’s accepted 

But harder just to trust yourself 

And choose a new perspective 

It’s easier to cross the bridge 

Than stand there and just wonder 

Its easier counting lives gone over 

Than the water that’s gone under