Ashes and Snow
Thursday, April 07, 2005
I’m a sucker for photography--and this exhibit at Pier 54 really made me swoon!
It’s great to have a program that is flexible enough to take our education to the street! And by that, I mean that we get to travel the city to various locations to see things that are applicable to our program. My instructional television class went to see the exhibit “Ashes and Snow” by Gregory Colbert. Even the building it was housed in was fascinating! It was constructed by Shigeru Ban who made it out of shipping crates and a material that looks like mailing tubes. Despite its seemingly transitory appearance, the inside is deftly designed to simulate a sanctuary.
I’m including some images here. I think you’ll enjoy them! :D
The images were displayed at large scale on parchment paper (or at least something that was printed to look like parchment) and hung by strings so that it looked as if it were levitating. One travelled on a path of wood planks laid across a field of smooth, small, white stones. They were lit by a spotlight - making them cast shadows but angled in such a way so that the viewer’s shadow would not affect the image in any way. At the end of the path was a movie of the same situations depicted in the still photography. This part, however, seemed hokey and cliche. Kind of disappointing after having such a great experience with the prints. There were parts where he chants to the audience, “Feather to fire, fire to blood, blood to bone, bone to marrow, marrow to ashes, and ashes to snow...” He repeats it over and over again and finally whispers it (in his head, i’m sure he was thinking, “now this is DEEP"). AND there seems to be some controversy over the rumor that Colbert sedated the animals for filming.
All in all, despite the video, it was a wonderful experience.
And then we went out as a class for BBQ. AAaaaahh, collaborative learning...truly a wonder of modern education. :D
Hey Kat,
These are SOO cool. I think Kottke linked to the Ashes and Snow website last week and was equally impressed with the display area, too. Do you have any pictures of the inside of the building? I would really love to see it.
(the anti-spam word is “moving”!!!)
Posted by laura on 04/08 at 01:28 PMhey kat
we (me, j&e, sn, and one of sn’s friends) went to see the exhibit. i agree that it was extremely cool.even better was the building. i just loved the design of it. so so cool.
sn even took bootleg pictures inside :D
Posted by Nathan on 04/10 at 06:02 PMJust saw the show May 7th - enjoyed it. Thanks for transcribing the words from his little chant even though you thought they were hokey - I enjoyed the chant, but couldn’t remember the first line or so when I got home. Googling on “blood to bone” “bone to marrow” “marrow to ashes” returns only one website: your blog! Congrats, I guess! I found that the film dispelled doubts of Photoshop techniques - although of course film can be manipulated too. Any hard source for the sedation rumor you mentioned?
Posted by on 05/09 at 11:46 AMSorry Brent, but I don’t have any hard sources about the sedation rumor. Perhaps I’m just perpetuating a vicious attack on his art. Who knows. If I find anything, I’ll definitely let you know. Thanks for wandering over to my site.
Posted by on 05/11 at 09:12 PM