We have a lot of extra rocks at our farm. Over the past year, we’ve hired a great guy, Steve, who has early onset Alzheimer’s. In creating this installation, I thought I might get footage of Steve working, talking, telling stories and include that video footage with the video of the process of building the cairn structure. The sound will include awareness about early Alzheimer’s disease and direct conversation with Steve. This will be a permanent installation in the front of our farm.
Update: 5/29/20
In continuing to work on this project, I am ditching the connection to Alzheimer’s–as I’m distracted by other issues current in my life and mission…thinking about how my installation can be more relevant to my current purpose.
My family and I have been working on a space in Choccolocco, AL for over three years. The house is nearly finished (started it 11 months ago), and it, in and of itself, is a work of art. My husband has designed it as we go, which has been a stressful process, but will hopefully be worth the crazy times in the end.
In this art-lacking area of Anniston/Oxford, AL, we aim to create a place for arts/environmental education. We will host camps, retreats, after school and evening classes and events. The artist whose work I am most inspired by for this rock project is Carl Peverall. On his website, he explains that the rock work he does is called “Powhiri” (poe’-fur-ee), which means “welcome” in the Mairi language.
http://www.carlpeverall.com/Stone-Sculpture.html
By building this stone structure near the front of my farm, I hope to say “welcome” to the community and to begin my statement as a place of coming together in the arts. I have hired a guy to help me with the drilling and metal work within the stones. We will start the sculpture on Saturday, so I am allotting a decent amount of time to get it finished prior to the deadline.
Update: 6/8/20
Whew! This is a beast of an undertaking. While I have a few boulders on the property, I decided I also wanted some smoother, bigger “river” rocks. So the local search began, and I ended up at Miller Landscape Supply in Dearmanville, AL. I found the perfect rocks, with a carload of kids, in the biggest storm that’s passed through the area in a while…and I had my husband pick them up in a flatbed truck that he borrowed from a friend. The load weighed close to 2 tons but looks so sparse in the photo I took. I will include photos of the pile I already had, plus the ones I purchased. Drilling begins tomorrow, and I hope the rain hasn’t postponed the hard work to the point I cannot meet the deadline.
We have been experimenting with mortar, rebar and iron pipe, will be drilling into the ground with an auger as well to be sure that the structure will never topple over (on top of someone’s head…could be deadly). I had not considered the possibly deadly nature of my project. Sheesh!
I’ve considered doing a tall, tapering pillar, instead of the arched shape. This is to be explored tomorrow as we drill. I’ve considered that it being so near the main road, I don’t want it to feel like a misplaced entrance. I want it to stand out as a clear art piece from the road; making it tall and graceful might be the perfect way. We shall see.
Delivered rocks:
The ones I already had:
Powhiri (draft artist statement)
Stephanie Hardin
Our property in Choccolocco, Alabama has been a labor of love since 2016, when we moved to this rural area. Differing from the community in many ways, our farm, Hippie Hollow, and the people who love it, have a lot of community buzz surrounding what goes on there. Whether we are opening a halfway house, growing weed (not legal here yet!) or UFO watching, it’s always news to us when we hear what we’re up to. Passionate about the arts and the environment, our goal has been to host classes, camps and events for the community—whatever size that is or becomes, all are welcome. It’s just taken us a bit longer to get the infrastructure in place than we’d hoped.
Bringing a “welcome” structure to the front of my property is the main goal of this project. I hope that the community can see our passion for found objects, the earth, the arts and our permanence in the community. The artist whose work I am most inspired by for this stone project is Carl Peverall. On his website, he explains that the rock work he does is called “Powhiri” (poe’-fur-ee), which means “welcome” in the Mairi language.
Stephanie Hardin 