Apples, "Trees" Etc.

Last weekend I made use of the U of R's generous 4 day weekend (made 5 by taking off from work on Friday) and drove across New York and just past the border into the Green Mountain State, to visit my two best friends, conveniently both currently inhabiting the adorable city of Burlington, VT.

The weather could not have been more perfect, and I got to spend a good amount of time exploring the downtown, which happened to at the opportune moment give me the chance to stumble into the BCA (Burlington City Arts) Center.

                                                                                                                                                                      Model for Neuron 2, 2010                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                           photo with permission from BCA Center

Here are some metal roots ! (as it were) in front of some graphite and magnets along the wall in the back. I can't say I was super-impressed by the exhibit, but the gallery had a welcoming artsy atmosphere, so no problems, really.

The sculpture above is by Roxy Paine, who has done a bunch of other "dendroid" sculptures comme ça. Anyone who's ever tried to draw a tree knows it's no walk in the …forest (…) so Paine gets kudos all around just for making this thing look like a straight-up root system.  He has made about 25 in the series since 1999, and, I realized, the more I looked at these mesmerizing trees, it looks familiar (no, not because I've seen trees before, but thanks). Graft (2009) is a life-size welded tree-sculpture which I saw in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. during one of my touristy outings in the capitol this spring-- huzzah!

Oh and here is a quite artsy shot (if I do say so) of Rachel's lovely fingers amidst some freshly acquired four-leaf-clovers:

TWO BIG PHOTOS. That should make up for the last post.