]twenty-six paces[ : Telephone

Telephone, yarn, acrylic on wood, cans.

Telephone, the first of several works that are part of the ]twenty-six paces[ ensemble, is also emblematic of all the works (those both planned and those still emerging) that will be the result during this period of the Windows on Main St exhibit.  Spatial relations; marking time, and space; communication, community; the speed of engagement and experience; the very process of formulating and exploiting ideas are all constituent parts of the work. 

The entire experience is a process of realizing, and working through of all the thoughts I had ever had about the WOMS exhibit since the days that Karlos Carcamo and I started the exhibit in 2005.  Meditating on my WOMS locations of choice: Artisan Wine Shop and Beacon Pilates folds in those generic thoughts and those specific to my recent interactions with the physical space of those locations.  

Telephone is the most basic expression of connecting intellects and locations.  It's a drawing in space.  In choosing these two spaces, I was aware that the scope of the entire street scape in which the two businesses would be part of my consideration of the stores and space in which they sit, and relate to one another. 

The span of the void - the streetscape - is at the core of ]twenty-six paces[  .   It's the space within the  ]  [   My immediate attention was drawn to the distance between the buildings; the void; the ]street[  but the focus of this project is as much the stuff outside of the ] [  as inside:  ::::::::]  [:::::::::::

My immediate attention was drawn to the distance between the buildings; the void; the ]street[  A primary goal in my approach to all of this has always been to explore the relationship between the realm of that void, and the realms on either side of the void; namely all that is behind those store front facades.
How to articulate the the geometry inherent in the linkage of two points across glass, brick and two lanes of asphalt?  I think first came the tin can telephone, then appeared the next obvious thought:  Fred Sandback. Sandback's yarn sculptures cut through space, define it -exactly the task at hand for me here.  The fact that a good number of his works are local - housed at Dia:Beacon - seemed like another salient element and reason enough to make the allusion.  Working with spectrum of tautness and slackness of the yarn is invigorating (Sandback really had something good going).  To further the nod to Sandback, I purchased the yarn at the Fishkill, NY Walmart, the same source for the material used in the Dia installations.

The Artisan Wine Shop end of the line.

The Beacon Pilates end of the line.

My lack of Trigonometry knowledge is overcome by a little bit of algebra and geometry...a ruler, protractor and lots of scribbles.