I have been creating major earth art in the form of Geoglyphs, for the last 6 years. These contemporary creations are part of the spectrum of such works created by Smithson, De Maria, James Turrell, and Heizer.
In Chile, the “Rhythms of Life” site of one square mile, starts in an exotic location, Llano de la Pacienea (the Plain of Patience) in the Atacama Desert, the driest desert on Earth. The site spreads in an easterly direction climbing the Cordillera De La Sal (Salt Mountain Range) at the head of the Valle de La Luna (Valley of the Moon). The elevation is 2603 metres (8500 feet). Within the site are three geoglyphs - “Ancient Language”, “The Ancients”, and “Rhythms of Life”.
“The Rhythms of Life” site in Israel currently stretches over three quarters of a square mile. The area will be enlarged this year by a fourth Geoglyph on top of a mountain. The site of these Geoglyphs is located near ancient Nabatean ruins and the old “Spice Route”.
These two collections of Geoglyphs, along with the planned chain of Geoglyphs in other countries form a common theme titled the “Rhythms of Life”, which my bronze sculptures have been defining for the last 18 years.
In concept, my Geoglyphs reach back in history and to the past. They are giant metaphors which are linked to prehistoric traffic routes of ancient inhabitants. Geoglyphs are a re-formatting of the ancient to comprise a new form derived from the past. Their message is greater than the form.
The scale of the Geoglyphs is imposing, even in the massive desert landscapes, with their great domes of sky. The Geoglyphs manipulate the space and light that surrounds them, so that people feel and experience the changed environments. People gain a heightened awareness by viewing them. One is able to sit on a mountain and view and contemplate the sunrise and sunset, the spiritual, broad windswept plains, the silence of the desert. Relative to the expansive desert plain, the geoglyphs give a spacial experience.
Geoglyphs are about their correlation with the surrounding environment. Geoglyphs comprise rocks and the earth which are basic components of our world. This is what intrigues me. Rocks for me are about the present focus of our being. Stone brings me together with the earth and being part of nature. Geoglyphs become part of wonderful pristine environments, kissed by the sun, and subject to the wild vagaries of nature – heat to freezing, calm to storm.
Creating Geoglyphs is a huge exercise in logistics – an Australian sculptor – working with teams of up to 80 indigenous people in a foreign language, moving tonnes of stones in dust storms and desert heat.
These giant rocks and earth are merely the components which allow me to use my imagination. It is an exercise in persistence and fortitude. As always the final form comes into being and resonates at a particular moment, but this moment has taken years to create.
