Posts Tagged ‘Fall’

Ishigumi

“The generic term for stone compositions is ishigumi (石組; a.p. sekigumi “rock group”; iwagumi 岩組 “boulder group”), although it can imply the overall art of arranging and setting rocks in a skillful and thoughtful manner.”

source: http://www.japanesegardensonline.com/Site/Garden_rocks.html

 

I’ve always wondered, as have many others along the way, if there is a specific name under which to classify stone balance. Through all my research over the years, “Ishigumi” is the first word I’ve found which actually refers to arranging rocks in various ways…

Precariously Free

“The amount of happiness that you have depends on the amount of freedom you have in your heart.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~

I love how these rocks compliment each other in this arrangement.. simple elegance. :) gotta love the deep reds in many

of the creek rocks too. my favorite :)

all the weight sitting on the round rock reallllllly wants to tip the round rock down the slope… meanwhile the top rock is *barely enough weight to counterbalance the one below it. but any heavier, and it would tip everything over that round rock. less than a mm difference between equilibrium and collapse. extremely ephemeral.

Past Present Future

If you are depressed, you are living in the past.
If you are anxious, you are living in the future.
If you are at peace, you are living in the present.
~Lao Tzu
Happy Friday everyone! just in case you don’t know, I will be performing rock balance at an Awards art showcase NEXT WEEK on Wednesday at the Absinthe House in Boulder. The event is called “RAWards” and i’m one of the annual finalists in the “performance art” category. There will be alot of great art being shown from a variety of talented artists. discount tickets are on sale today, after today they will be regular price..here’s the link to buy tickets if you want to come! :)
http://www.rawartists.org/boulder/rawards2012

Focus

“To experience anything fully and see it clearly there must be a moment of presence where conceptual thinking is not interfering with your experience of that moment.”

~ Eckhart Tolle ~

The top rock here was far too heavy to lift with one arm and the rest too unstable to use both hands to place it. so I had to problem solve…. the method was narrowly successful. Focus. :)

Twilight Energy

“It’s beautiful when you find someone that is in love with your mind. someone that wants to undress your conscience and make love to your thoughts. Someone that wants to watch you slowly take down all those walls you’ve built up around your mind and let them inside.”

- Unknown

The color dynamic in this photo is not the result of software enhancement, but of the the ambient light over the creek as the sun was setting a few days ago. For some reason, most of my favorite balances come into being right before the sun sets. I dunno why. It’s just a pattern I’ve noticed. This time of year in particular, the sunsets seem more colorful with the clouds… maybe from the colder air? Either way, there is usually a period of about 5 minutes as the sun sets where everything seems to glow under the bright pink/orange/purple clouds. Definitely a magical time of day. this picture was taken during that 5 minutes.. :)

Something i really enjoy about this balance is the combinations of angles, round edges, parallel lines, and color balance. negative space flows very well in this one too :)

Sub-surface

a really complex balance… then silent, unbeknownst, is that MASSIVE rock underneath. chillin. things on the surface can give quite a different impression…

notice the slight difference between these 2 balances. :)

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