implicit art

Hi, I’m Bronwyn Lace, a friend of Nathaniel’s, I’ve decided to become a guest blogger, this is easier said than done, at this moment I’m discovering that writing ones first blog is a somewhat harrowing experience, bare with me.

If you don’t already know, Simon Gush and I have been in New York for the last three and a bit weeks, and for most of that time we’ve been staying with Nathaniel and his folks. ( An expereince that needs to be blogged all on its own.) Our main mission while here has been to see as much art as possible, when you spend so much time moving from one gallery/museum to another your memory tends to blur many of the works, names and concepts into one another. However there are some artists that have completely blown me away. Walter De Maria is my new idol. I’m embarrassed to say that until yesterday I did not know his work, Simon says he’s extremely well known, but then again all art is extremely well known to Simon, the walking ‘Encyclopedia of the Arts’. So yesterday we hit the larny side of Soho where two of De Maria’s more well known installations are situated. Images, titles and dimensions of the two works are below, all I’d like to add is that standing in front of the works is an incredible experience, the smell of the earth, the silence of the space, the scale of both works all come together to form installations that are difficult to imagine in any other form. Lastly, De Maria made these pieces before I was born… ( and I think my parents don’t get me!)

the new york earth room, 1977
250 cubic yards of earth
3,600 square feet of floor space
127300 kilos

the broken kilometer, 1979
500 solid brass rods
spaces between rods increase by 5 millimeters with each consecutive space