I went up to Byrdcliffe the weekend of August 17th to see how my installation "Sheltered Garden" was doing and to do some maintenance. The weeds have really taken over the hillside including some poison ivy I found out a little to late.

The chamomile did not take, but considering this was planted from seed in June, it's not that surprising.

I added some grass to the dirt side to see if anything will stick. The nasturtium and moon flower are growing, and are slowly climbing up the sides. They are even blooming. A man-made garden requires so much control, weekly weeding, watering, pruning etc.... while nature will trump you plans if you don't adhere to a strict schedule of control. But that's what you sometimes have to let nature do...

I'll be checking in again in September when we have our artist talk, Sept. 21.

New Installation Garden at Byrdecliffe

On June 8th and 9th I went up to Byrdcliffe Guild and built my new garden installation called "Sheltered Garden", as part of a group show called "Gimme Shelter" Originally it was to be placed on the grounds surrounding White Pines, the residency of the Whitehead family who founded Byrdcliffe. But the show was moved to an open terraced garden that had previously been overgrown. After clearing the area, it makes for the perfect spot for outdoor sculpture and installations.
I placed some pictures of my shelter, but it doesn't look like much now. It will take till probably end of July for the plants to become a significant part of the structure.
Here is the original proposal, but some of the shelter was modified for practical and visual reasons...
I ended up liking the exposed sticks and wood skeletal structure, and wanted some of that to be seen until the Nasturtium and Moon Flower vines can cover them. The back end of the shelter is still chamomile. Fingers crossed. The show is located in Woodstock, NY. Take Upper Byrdcliffe Road past the Byrdcliffe theater building and just past White Pines.
The link to the Flickr page with more images is here. Also I have photos of the other shelters in the show along with some images of White Pines...
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjG9962j

Gimme Shelter Proposal

Sheltered Garden

Sheltered Garden is an installation based on some of the first primitive shelters humans made, the debris hut. It is still employed by the military (referred to as Field Expedient shelters) or for survival in wilderness situations since it uses material that is readily found in your immediate surroundings. It uses logs, fallen trees, rocks, sticks, leaves, moss, bark or any other natural material to build up a thick enough layer you can crawl into to get out of the weather, stay warm or stay hidden.

            My installation will be an actual functional debris hut, but whose purpose goes beyond mere shelter. I intend to add layers of dirt to the sides of the shelter once it is built so that a garden may grow over its surface. A thick green mat of Roman Chamomile will be the main herb, and will exude a calming fragrance, and eventually will have small white and yellow flowers by mid-summer.  I will also leave an opening near the top of the hut, much like a skylight, framed by a pyramid of twigs which will act as lattice for fragrant nasturtium, a vine with edible red flowers. The interior will have a layer of moss for soft bedding and will be illuminated at night by a 100 yellow solar powered mini lights.  The intention is to create a space to stay hidden and secure from all external distractions and be encased in nature. The feeling inside should be one of calm and security, a place where people will be allowed to sit, meditate, sleep, write, sing or whatever they need to feel solitude and a connection with nature. The shelter will be roughly 8 feet long, 4.5 feet high and 5 feet wide on the inside. I intend to use materials I find around the Catskills, along with seeds, which will need time to germinate in 8-12 days.http://flic.kr/s/aHsjG9962j

I get the NYFA Current newsletter, and they usually have some very good articles. This month they feature the installation artist Gelah Penn and basically use her artist statement for their article. Granted it's a bit longer than your average artist statement, but I was very impressed. It is accessible, clear, straightforward, but at the same time analytical and intelligent. A good mixture of the personal (which art should be) and the more "academic" (which too many artist statements try to be). In the article they also use photographs of the installation and the influencial images from Noir Cinema in comparison. It really helps the viewer understand the artists intentions. A link to the article is below.
Criss Cross by Gelah Penn

"I love my kids. Dead man was not my fault. Love, Dad," 
Two cars, same road, same turn, same spot where they go off the road, end up in same ravine, but the catch is, not at the same time. Almost a week apart. Lavau was the last to go over the edge of the ravine and survived for six days. The other man had been killed and was found decomposing in his wrecked car. The odds of this occurrence are almost incomprehensible, even taking into account how dangerous that stretch of road is. 
It's so improbable, it sounds made up. And eerily it is reminiscent of J.G. Ballards book from 1973 called Concrete Island. Here is a link to Ballardian's website about the book. 
Concrete Island.
The story is of a man who crashes his car off of elevated high-way into a concrete island below and becomes trapped. Despite the fact that his is surrounded by humanity, cars, and man-made structures, he can not find any escape back to civilization.
Below is the story from the AP on the California crash... fact is almost always stranger then fiction.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) — Two separate missing persons cases. Two families wracked with worry for days. Two wrecked cars, nearly on top of each other. One man alive, the other dead.
The fates of 68-year-old David Lavau and a man believed to be 88-year-old Melvin Gelfand met at the bottom of the same rugged ravine, 200 feet below a curvy stretch of mountain road where both men had lost control of their vehicles and crashed, authorities said Friday.
It appeared to be sheer coincidence that led the men to end up in exactly the same spot of the Angeles National Forest some 50 miles north of Los Angeles.
Lavau lived in the ravine for six days, eating bugs, leaves and drinking creek water to survive, with Gelfand's badly decomposed body in another car only a few feet away.
Lavau was rescued Thursday by his three adult children, who searched a highway between their father's home in northern Los Angeles County and Ventura County, where a detective told themLavau's bank and cellphone records had placed him, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Mike Parker said.
They drove slowly along the mountain road, stopping to peer over the treacherous drop-offs and call out for their father.
Near him they found a body in a Toyota Camry that belonged to Gelfand, who had been reported missing on Sept. 14, more than a week before Lavau's disappearance, said Los Angeles police Detective Marla Ciuffetelli of the missing persons unit.
"I love my kids. Dead man was not my fault. Love, Dad," read a note Lavau scrawled on his dusty trunk, his family told the Los Angeles Times.
Lavau was at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with three rib fractures, a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm and fractures in his back, said emergency room physician Dr. Garrett Sutter. He was expected to be released in three to four days after surgery on his shoulder and to make a full recovery.
"He was very desirous of a lobster taco," Sutter said.
Dr. Ranbir Singh, the hospital's trauma director, said Lavau told him he was driving to his home when he was temporarily blinded by the headlights of an oncoming car. He braked, but failed to gain traction. The car flipped and plunged down the embankment.
The body found in the other car could not be visually identified due to decomposition, but Gelfand's son-in-law Will Matlack said the family had been contacted by the coroner's office, which was trying to match fingerprints or dental records to make a positive identification.
"The coroner said it's 99 percent a sure thing," Matlack said.
At the bottom of the ravine, Lavau could hear cars and see their lights on the road above and was hopeful he'd be discovered, but as time passed, he grew more uncertain.
Lavau's children had reported him missing last Friday, though they were not certain when exactly he had disappeared.
"Each family member and friend thought that he was with someone else,'" Parker said.
Parker said by the next day the sheriff's detective assigned to the case turned up bank records showing Lavau had made a purchase in Oxnard in Ventura County, and mobile phone records showed he had been in the area.
The children then organized themselves into a search party.
"We stopped at every ravine and looked over every hill, and then my brother got out of the car, and we kept screaming, and the next thing we heard Dad saying, 'Help, help,' and there he was," Lisa Lavau told NBC's "Today" show.
Sean Lavau slid down the embankment to reach his father, who was airlifted to the hospital while firefighters helped his children get back up the ravine.
Parker said it was "remarkable" the family was able to make the find in the sparsely populated area about 50 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
"We admire this family for doing what they did. You've got to love them." the sheriff's spokesman said. "I think there was a higher power involved."
Parker said the fact that the family found their father was no reflection on the work of the Sheriff's Department, which followed all the proper procedures for a missing persons case that had no evidence of foul play.
"What else could we possibly do?" said Parker, pointing out the speed with which detectives turned up records showing Lavau's activity. "I was surprised we did as much as we did. I'm glad we did it."
The California Highway Patrol was investigating the accidents.
Gelfand
Daughter Joan Matlack said he was supposed to be heading the other direction toward a casino off Interstate 5 south of Los Angeles.
"We don't know what happened, but it seemed like he was either lost or disoriented," Matlack told KCAL-TV, "Because he was in the complete opposite direction. He went north instead of south."

Replace Sea with Woods, and this is a good representation of my mind right now...
from Moby Dick:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having
little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on
shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of
the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating
the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;
whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find
myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up
the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get
such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to
prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically
knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea
as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a
philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly
take to the ship.

A story of living rent-free... to the extreme. I am sure more details will emerge on this story.
Perhaps they tried a wikiup...

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin police are investigating the story of an English-speaking teenager who appeared in the German capital last week saying he had lived the previous five years in the woods with his father, a spokesman said Friday.
Michael Maass said the approximately 17-year-old boy appeared Sept. 5 at Berlin's city hall and was then taken in by a youth emergency center.
The boy told authorities that after his mother had died in a car accident about five years ago, his father had taken him to live in the forest, Maass said. The two lived in a tent, and in earthen dugouts according to his story.
"He said that he had lived for the last five years wandering around with his father," Maass said. "We don't know where."
The boy — who says he doesn't remember where the family came from — claims he followed his compass north after his father recently died following a fall in the woods, hitting Berlin after walking two weeks, Maass said.
The boy told authorities he only remembered the name his father called him by — Ray, according to media reports — and not his last name, Maass said. He speaks fluent English and only a few words of German, Maass said. He did not have any information about what accent the boy has.
The boy appears to be in good health and police have issued a Europe-wide appeal to try and determine his identity. However, police said they were not immediately releasing any photos of the boy.
"The missing persons bureau is investigating," Maass said, noting that at the moment, they only had the boy's story to go on.

I love that the national park service uses the term "backcountry camping" It's a phrase I may adapt more and more. On Fire Island you are able to camp out in the dunes (not between March and early Sept when it is Piping Plover breeding season) or the beach. Except for the cost of the ferry to Watch Hill, it is free. There are only 24 slots available though, so on busy weekends in summer they fill up fast. No pre-registering, it is first come first serve only. A link to the Fire Island National Seashore is below.
Fire Island
While we only hiked out about a mile or so, we were forced to carry 5 liters of water, since no potable water was on site. But hind site perhaps you set up camp and then hike back out the one or two miles and retrieve the water separate. Carrying around 35 pounds even for a little while was the most grueling part of the adventure.
Since there are four separate ecosystems in a very narrow space, the abundance of wildlife is amazing and easy to see. For the first time I think I saw almost every creature featured on the Fire Island brochure we were given. There is the salt water marshes on the bay side of  the island. There I saw a Great Egret, Mute Swans, an American Bittern, Cormorants, and I believe American Black Duck. Deer were everywhere, while walking to Davis Park on the boardwalk they ran out in front of use like squirrels. In the dunes area I spied a little fox on three occasions, twice running along the shoreline looking through clumps of seaweed searching for food. In the morning I saw a Harrier (or it could have been a Merlin, not sure) harassing and chasing a murder of crows. Eventually once the brave one had cleared the area of his enemy he took to hunting smaller birds near the marshes. Well off in the distance, there was a very large raptor with white underneath and black above, but I only saw him for a second. I think it was an Osprey. Of the smaller birds, I spent part of my time chattering with a Grey Catbird who was hanging out near some Mockingbirds and I got a bit confused if one species was mimicking the other at times. I brought out my Iphone app Audubon's Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic and found several Catbird calls which I played. I believe I freaked out my little friend who kept coming closer to check out who was making these weird calls. Also in attendance was a very fancy Rose Breasted Grosbeak, a Northern Flicker and a yellow streaked variety of Warbler, which I really can't identify. On the beach their was a party of gulls, mechanical little Sanderlings and dive-bombing Terns. It was quite the spectacle of nature and am eager to come again when the only creature I wasn't eager to meet has finally left, the mosquito.
Here are some bird calls from the species I saw. Cornell University website has some really comprehensive information on Ornithology.
Northern Flicker
American Bittern
Rose Breasted Grosbeak