lo-cale

The day the Amarillo Ramp got painted.

2008-12-02T13:06:00.016-05:00

The Amarillo Ramp is an earthwork designed by Robert Smithson and constructed on property owned by Stanley Marsh just outside of Amarillo, in Potter County, Texas. In 1973, Smithson selected the site and staked out the shape of the ramp, but was killed in a plane crash while viewing the site in advance of construction. The ramp was completed later that year under the direction of Richard Serra, Tony Shafrazi, and Nancy Holt (Smithson’s widow). The ramp originally conceived and constructed to sit at the edge of Tecovas Lake, an impoundment of Tecovas Creek, which itself flows into the Canadian River about five miles north of the Ramp site. The dam which formed Tecovas Lake has failed in the years since the ramp was constructed, leaving the site dry and some distance from the main flow of the creek.

I visited the Amarillo Ramp in July,2007, with Danielle Dahl and LBK, an employee of Stanley Marsh.

The ramp is a semicircle 150 feet in diameter and open to the northeast. It rises in a clockwise direction from the grade of the dry lakebed to a high point of approximately 10 feet. The ramp is clearly visible on Google Earth and other online aerial image servers. Its coordinates are 35° 22’ 30.33” N, 102° 01’ 47.31’ W. Online topographic maps at Terraserver.com, dated from 1966, show the former extent of Tecovas Lake.

Photos of the ramp from the 1970s show it as a bare pile of earth jutting out from the water, or against a dry and barren lakebed. In 2007, the lakebed had reverted to grassy rangeland and volunteer plants had sprouted on the ramp itself.

Head of Amarillo Ramp, viewed from within the semicircle.

Head of Amarillo Ramp, viewed from outside of the semicircle.

Danielle climbing the spine of the ramp.

Ground detail, Amarillo Ramp.

Prickly pear and other vegetation on outside bank, Amarillo Ramp.

Ants reside in the Amarillo Ramp.

Cattle graze on and around the Amarillo Ramp. Cows and ants assist entropy, I suppose.

The Ramp is on property owned by Stanley Marsh, about sixteen miles northwest of downtown Amarillo. The road to the ramp passes a helium extraction facility. Helium extraction is an important industry in Amarillo.

Visiting the Amarillo Ramp requires a rather bumpy ride over unpaved ranch roads.

While the lake has been dry for some time, pipes and pumping equipment that once pulled water from the lake are still visible. An article by Eugene Tsai, in the exhibition catalog, Robert Smithson (2004, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles), claims that Smithson chose the site at Tecovas Lake, in part because he was “intrigued by its unique system of irrigation.” This pumping equipment is visible in a photo of Smithson and Stanley Marsh visiting the site, published on page 31 of the catalog.

A breach in the dam which once held inTecovas lake can be seen to the left of the center of this

image.

Detail, breach of Tecovas Lake dam

The breach in the dam is a preferred route for the cattle to move around the ranch.

Rock formations near former Tecovas Lake, outside Amarillo Texas.

Tecovas Creek, which once fed Tecovas Lake.

We were escorted to see the Amarillo Ramp, by LBK, a local artist who is an employee of Stanley Marsh. LBK is an Amarillo native, and was known for getting around town on a long skateboard. LBK was his graffiti tag, for “Long Board Kid.”

LBK chose the day of our visit as an opportunity to realize a "project" he had been thinking about for some time: painting some of the rocks in the Amarillo Ramp.

I’m still not sure what to think of his intervention. Part of me accepts it as another manifestation of entropy. Earthworks are so often understood as static and inviolate objects. I need to read a lot more of Smithson’s writing, but I believe his interest in entropy allows for the eventual decay of all structures. Does it matter if decay is occasioned by human efforts rather than forces of ‘natural’ origin, such as erosion and atomic-level decay? Would ants be considered natural and grazing cattle cultural? Then again, a coat of paint is usually deployed as buffer against decay. Will these few rocks persist on the site longer?

I suppose the disturbing part, in a cultural sense, is this act’s “violation” of a work of art by a famous artist. This particular piece carries some additional weight, perhaps, because the artist died in the process of developing it. Then again, it was executed posthumously by his associates. I know the lines of authorship are very blurry in the practice of contemporary art; I wonder how much that matters here.

Amarillo Ramp, post–painting, from within the semicircle.

One of the items highlighted was a survey stake, which was perhaps placed by Smithson in designing the ramp.

Danielle found a metal object resembling a minnow can as we walked nearby. She arranged a few flowers in it and left it there.

Amarillo ramp, post-painting, July 12, 2007.

Amarillo Ramp, July 12, 2008. Pre-painting (top) and post-painting (bottom).

Every Fireworks Stand on Nebraska Avenue

2006-07-08T11:38:00.000-04:00

Independence Day 2006, Tampa, Florida.

East side, just south of Fowler Ave.

Northeast corner of Nebraska and Fowler Aves.

West side, just north of Fletcher Ave.

Southeast corner of Nebraska and Bearss Aves.

East side, just north of Bearss Ave.

With apologies to Edward Ruscha....

The peculiar translucence of a nylon flag.

2006-07-08T11:27:00.000-04:00

Independence Day 2006, Tampa, Florida.

The Lee Oriental Rock Garden, Phoenix, Arizona

2006-06-28T18:38:00.000-04:00

spotted while driving around...

Taxus Maximus

2006-04-17T21:12:00.000-04:00

Citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio, have mobilized to save a specimen of taxus cuspidata 'capitata' that is between 130 and 150 years old. It is possible that the shrub was planted by Adolph Strauch, designer of Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery and hero to F.L. Olmsted.

The shrub in question is on property adjoining the Clifton Public School, which is undergoing an expansion. In addition to his work at Spring Grove Cemetery, Strauch designed numerous estates around Cincinnati.

Karchi

2006-04-11T17:13:00.000-04:00

One day in April, Karchi, Pakistan was in the news. I'm ashamed to admit that I dont't remember why; I want to say there was a bomb blast, perhaps of the suicide variety. There were no pictures in the news. I wondered what the streets of Karchi looked like.

Here you go. Courtesy the BBC and flickr.

flickr credit: impak

flickr credit: impak

flickr credit: inspirex

flicker credit: inspirex

flickr credit: bravo-uk

flickr credit: surferzag

flickr credit: illusionfs

flickr credit: cageitfallsinto

flickr credit: bellastarling

Post on posts: Burkina Faso

2006-02-27T08:02:00.000-05:00

Some very impressive tree-trunk posts from my favorite BBC online feature, "Photo Journals" from Africa. Also note the Toyota Pickup. As American Football is to Football, the F-150 is to the Toyota Pickup.

Sunday in the Park with(out) Saddam

2006-01-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

A January 13 article in the NYT, by Sabrina Tavernise, describes citizens of Baghdad enjoying the holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) at two popular parks in the city, Jadriya lake and the Al Zawraa amusement park. The article featured photographs, by Ashley Gilbertson, of Iraqis enjoying amenities familiar to American park users, including dangerously high slides and preening young men on jet-skis.

Note the flagrant disregard for safety: the handstand, use of an occupied lane, metal railings, hard surfaces below (Image from NYTimes, by Ashley Gilbertson).

At Jeff Ruby's Tigris Waterfront, the ladies can't resist the sensuous buzz of the personal watercraft. The presence of Oakley sunglasses would indicate a complete transition to democracy, allowing for the withdrawal of American troops (unattributed, but copyrighted, image from Detroit News reprint of NYTimes article, presumably by Ashley Gilbertson).

(Image from NYTimes, by Ashley Gilbertson)

A boy wades on the shore fo a lake formerly named for Saddam (Image from NYTimes, by Ashley Gilbertson).

Tavernise described a variety of activities engaged by park patrons:

Both of Baghdad's two main parks - the lake in the Jadriya neighborhood, and Al Zawraa, a sprawling area of concrete canals, a zoo and an amusement park - were bustling with families this week. The scenes could have been from Coney Island. Boys played with beach balls. A girl sped by on roller skates. Children played sword-fighting with sparklers. Cotton candy was consumed in large quantities.
In Al Zawraa, Mr. Sadiq could barely contain his brood. Six children, ages 4 through 16, raced from ride to ride, demanding more time on Ali Baba's Magic Carpet - a boat-shaped ride that moved like the hands of a clock - and squealing on swinging chairs.

She also described the familar amsuement-park thrill of vicarious participation in the dynamics of other families:

A few yards away, her parents sat in white plastic lawn chairs watching the water. Her father, Qusay Jabr, said that he would not go back to the time of Saddam Hussein, but that his new life was also troubled. As if on cue, an American helicopter flew overhead.
"That's the negative," he said, pointing to the sky.
His 14-year-old nephew was shot and killed in Baghdad at a checkpoint while he was riding with his father after curfew, he said, and two colleagues were killed in a suicide car bombing in Baghdad last fall. His two daughters have less freedom because of the violence. Even visiting the park was not easy, he said.
"I haven't taken my family outside for a long time," Mr. Jabr said. "They're always complaining, always asking me."
That frustration was twisted into the face of his wife, Amira Dahel, who sat scowling in a coat of fake white fur during the conversation. "Men are dogs," she hissed, with an intensity that could only have come from a recent argument.

As always, note the presence of white plastic lawn chairs, as were in Ebocha.

Story and images were also found with AFP.
(Image from theglobeandmail.com, by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images).

Note the roof made of corrugated fiberglass, one of my favorite materials, found the world over, like the white plastic chair.

(Image from courant.com, by Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images).

Franklin Roosevelt enumerated a fifth freedom, "Freedom to enjoy the Rinky-Dink." Shamefully abandoned in prosperity of post-war America, it is fiercely guarded in post-Saddam Iraq.

Flagpole+"Landscaping" = Park?

2005-12-21T09:03:00.000-05:00

photo by some lo-cale loser

video capture from wcpo.com

On May 23, 2005, the Hamilton County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court ordered the closure of the Mt. Airy Motel on North Bend Road after a long sequence of arrests on the property and complaints by neighboring residents and merchants. Built in 1952, the motel recently had been known to allow renters to stay in excess of 30 days, thereby crossing the line from motel to apartment and violating fire codes. Constant police visits - over 60 in one three-month period - got the place branded a nuisance.

After the closure, Green Township arranged to buy the Motel from its owner. In order to ensure that it is not re-opened to again serve an undesirable public, the township has decided, according to minutes of their meeting on November 14, 2005, that "the building will be demolished and be replaced with some landscaping, benches and possibly a flag pole." Subsequent news reports indicated that the site would be a "public park."

photo by Glenn Hartong, the Cincinnati Enquirer

All of this begs a few questions. First, do "landscaping", benches, and a possible flag pole on publicly owned land constitute a park? Second is there an expression of park-ness that can acknowledge the unsavory history of the site while still providing safety and security to the nearby day-care center and the "Victorian Village" condominium complex next door?

Parking Lotphoto by some lo-cale loser

Side Driveway

photo by some lo-cale loser

Posted!photo by some lo-cale loser

Looking Eastphoto by some lo-cale loser

Looking WestNothing satisfies Victorian sensibilities quite like pyrus and thuja.
photo by some lo-cale loser

Clippings
Documented troubles: stabbings, hot pursuit, and robbery.
First threat of closure: solicitation and thuggery.
On the Closing: morning paper, afternoon paper, TV 9, TV 5.
The "Park" Proposal: government, media.

Dan Kearns, flaming aesthete

2005-12-14T13:50:00.000-05:00

Photo by Dan Kearns, flaming aesthete

My friend Dan Kearns keeps a blog over at Yahoo!360.

Photos by Dan Kearns, flaming aesthete

Industrial Sublime: Gas Flares of the Niger Delta

2005-12-13T21:45:00.000-05:00

The 12/9/05 NYT featured an article by Lydia Polgren about the practice of burning off excess natural gas, known as flaring, in Nigeria. The article featured some stunning photos by Michael Kamber. The gas is released from underground deposits as a result of oil extraction, but because no one has invested in gas-harnessing infrastructure and there is no domestic (Nigerian) market for natural gas, it is simply burned off as waste. The facility at the focus of the article, in the town of Ebocha, is owned by the Italian oil company Agip.

images by Michael Kamber, from NYTimes, 12/9/05

The flares of Ebocha have been burning continuously since the 1970's, turning night into a surreal, luminous day. The flares are a serious environmental issue in Nigeria and also a visual representation of the relationship of the local population to the oil extraction industry: they live with its costs and reap little of its benefits. Two sites that advocate changes in the practice of flaring due to its effect on the people of the Niger Delta are climatelaw.org and remembersarowiwa.com.

image by Israel Aloja, from climatelaw.org

images from remebersarowiwa.com

The article captures a few nice details that give a sense of Ebocha as a place. The action centers on a bar/brothel called "One for the Road," where both lines of business cater to the workers from the oil plant, the only people around with a steady income. The proprietress sets out "white plastic chairs and tables," in anticipation of the evening rush. These are undoubtedly the molded plastic chairs that are seen on patios and sidewalks worldwide, cheap and universal, and, in this context, part of a poetic loop of petroleum income begetting petroleum-based amenities. Oil brings us all together for beer in the glow of the fire. Petroleum: for the good times (soon I'll dig up the Smithsonian article about the history of those very chairs).

Another interesting element is end-of-workday transition between unemployed locals and plant workers as occupants of the beer garden at One for the Road. There seems to be an understanding that those who cannot purchase anything may gather at the cafe, however briefly, until the paying customers arrive at the end of the plant shift. Polgren writes:

"Mr. Ekberi and a half dozen friends could not afford soft drinks, much less beer, so they sat uneasily at the table, making small talk.
Veronica, who declined to give her last name, cast suspicious glances their way, an unsubtle code to let them know they would have to clear out when paying customers from the Agip plant showed up...
the Agip workers started arriving. The jobless young men slipped away, off into the bright, bright night."

While still stratified and sad, this scene speaks of a level of cross-class social fabric that is utterly non-existent here. In America the conflict rages over the monopolization of cafe tables by wi-fi users. I suspect that in most cases the transgressors here can well afford the one-drink minimum but are so conditioned to self-absorption and entitlement that it just doesn't occur to them to come back after the lunch rush. (I did a lot of work at wi-fi hotspots this year. I generally avoided places where the conditions of use were emphatically regulated, but always made sure to purchase a drink at the outset, and, if my task kept me there into a mealtime rush, it simply meant that I had to buy lunch there or come back later. But I digress, this is not a manners blog....) The situation on this country, of course, is that the laptop serves as a class marker of sorts, and without it, non-payers would barely make it across the threshold of most establishments.

But the essential point of this post is as an example of several of my pet themes: infrastructure as an element of the landscape and the power of the industrial sublime. While it is essential to recognize and address the issues of environmental justice present here, it is also important to acknowledge the power of the spectacle. Obvious references are to the work of Richard Haag, Julie Bargman, and Peter Latz. Environmental justice demands that these facilites not spew their toxicity on populations who derive little benefit from them, but a sense of environmental poetic justice, or of economic transparency, would demand that these facilites somehow be visually integrated into the societies they serve. Why should societies whose lifestyle depends on oil be deriving their aesthetic templates from a pastoral economy. Let the derricks and flares dot the distant hillsides! The follies in the distance are likely poly-resin anyway.

A new city and its monuments: Astana, Kazakhstan

2005-12-13T18:27:00.000-05:00

Nazarbayev's Golden Handprint: it's only a matter of time until you can buy a cast resin version of your own from the FrontGate catalog.
Image from slate.com.

Last week, the NYT published several articles written by C. J. Chivers about the Presidential elections in Kazakhstan. The article was accompanied by an amazing photo (now locked away in the Times select archives) from atop the "Tree of Life," a 90+ meter monument to President Nursaltan Nazarbayev, who has been in power since Kazakhstan won its independence from the USSR in 1991, and who since 1997 has overseen the development of a new capital city, Astana. In the observation deck atop the tree of life is a golden impression of Nazarbayev's hand, into which Kazakh citizens may place their own hands as a gesture of loyalty to the president many of them refer to as 'papa.'

Some other images of Astana's monumental scene, and a plaza thrown in to boot.

Images from griven.com

Image from chifoundation.com.

Hidden Kitchens: a parallel quest

2005-11-17T22:54:00.000-05:00

The other day, I was listening the Fresh Air on NPR, and the host interviewed two women, known as the "Kitchen Sisters," who produce a series of segments called Hidden Kitchens. The point of the series is to document local and community-based foodways that fly beneath the radar of most palates. One splendid example was a story about the value of a common, inexpensive appliance, the George Foreman Grill, in the lives of people who would otherwise have no kitchen: homeless folk, residents of SRO housing, etc.

The approach of the Hidden Kitchens series is a touchstone for what I want to achieve with regard to landscape, that is to discuss, document and make gardens, parks, plazas or pavilions that are otherwise unexamined. Lo-Cale will be a tool in that quest, I hope, a notepad where I can record what I see and speculate about what might be built.

claim staked, plans to follow

2005-11-14T18:52:00.000-05:00

This is my initial post on a blog I think about while pulling weeds and laying mulch in the parking lot of a well-to-do commercial district in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here's hoping I remember the things that cross my mind when I get home.

I will deal with numerous topics related to landscape design, history and study, particularly about the type of place-making that results from the application of limited means; the blog title is an attempt to meld the ethos of lo-tech or lo-fi movements in other arts with the practice of exterior spatial manipulation that is professionally codified as Landscape Architecture. This post is really a place-holder to get the thing up and running, so I'll cut it short. I likely won't tell anyone about this until I have 13 or so posts in the bag, so if anyone gets this far, congratulations.