DAY 330
02.28.08
TREE 206
This morning, rather than going canvassing, I went to the Contemporary Art Museum of Cincinnati. It is a really great museum and they had a nice Sol LeWitt show. Seeing his older system-driven drawings up close and in person made it clear how much he influenced my work in college. Though my tree work is vastly different, I wonder in what ways LeWitt’s work has informed or influenced it? I suppose that the way I’ve structured this Daily Climb project has been very systematic. And the way in which I photograph from within the tree is less about capturing an "artistic scene" or focusing on composition but more about trying to record all possible views.
After I left the museum I drove through Eden Park again on my way to headquarters. I passed this one section that is a lookout over the Ohio River. I saw some good trees so I made a U-turn and decided to climb there. I walked around to a few trees but none of them called to me. There was a decent sycamore but a cop was parked right next to it. So I walked towards the hill and climbed the snowy stone steps to the next lookout section.
This part was completely empty besides one person sitting on a bench. I started to scan the trees and one really hit me. A nice tall tree with branches spread apart to make a challenging path. One of the biggest challenges being the beginning. No limbs were in reach from the ground and the trunk was pretty big around for shimmying. But I wrapped my arms around and jumped. I squeezed tight with my arms and legs and stuck. One hand went up then the next. I brought my knees up and repeated. I did this for about four feet before I could reach the lowest limb. When I finally got on my feet, my fingers were red and tingly from the rough bark. I think I saw the guy on the bench watch me. I always wonder what people think when they watch me. I began moving up the limbs. They were strong and at every step there was another limb within reach to continue on. It’s as if tree like this were made for humans to climb. Branches that fit nicely in my grip and are about a human’s body length apart.
High up at the top, after the trunk ended and split off into narrowing limbs, I considered stopping. But I saw one more foot hold that looked just strong enough to hold me and I couldn’t resist. I perched myself within the skinny branches and tied a pink ribbon.
Then I looked around me. An awesome sight!
The river bended below me
with a snow patterned hillside on the Kentucky side.
I could see the bridges going into downtown,
the skyline,
and major roads and highways. It was really amazing. I began to shoot picture after picture.
Even the view straight down this tree to the snow covered ground and the stark shadow cast by the bright noon sun was brilliant.
I even took a picture ofthe guy sitting on the bench.
It’s views like these that make a rewarding climb even better. I put my camera away and just looked all around me and soaked in the sunshine. Finally a beautiful day. There is no other place I’d rather be when the circumstances like the ones today work out so well.
The bench guy got up and walked toward me just as I started to come down. He asked, "how’s the view?" I told him it was incredible. He said, "that’s quite a climb, good luck getting down." I replied, "thanks" and he walked on. I thought to myself, little does he know I do this every day and getting down is the easiest part. And down I went. I slid down the trunk into the snow and then walked back to my truck just feeling so good. I was happy, really happy. It made me feel so lucky to have found something that can make me feel this way. And it’s so accessible and easy to accomplish.
3-12-09: First, I must apologize to my readership for getting so far behind in the blog. Practically another two weeks to catch up on with a little over two weeks before I conclude this blog. Yes, you read that right, I will be finishing my one year and thus stopping the daily posts the first week of April. I have yet to decide whether I will stop climbing or not, but as it is looking now, I will not stop. 730 days in a row, two years, is a nice accomplishment… but that number just doesn’t jive with me. It’s too close to 1,000 which looks a whole lot cooler, don’t you think? So, here I go doing my best to catch up. It may be a few days of a handful of posts, but I would like to finish this thing the right way, one blog a day.
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Never heard of Sol LeWitt? Read about him here, and look at his work here. His work and philosophy is worth getting familiar with.
Also, the Contemporary Museum of Art in Cincinnati is worth a visit. Especially now that there is a exhibition of Tara Donovan‘s work. I am totally planning on going to see that. Her work is amazing!
As for the tree climb above, one of the most awesome views of all my climbs. I particularly like the barge picture. That image is hanging on the hallway wall of the Ventas office in Chicago.
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Where am I now. Ahhhh, February 27th 2009. I believe that was a Fidiay, the day I took the BOLT BUS from New York to Boston. I met James, my freshmen year college roomie, in Copley Square. We hung out, caught up, and just before it got dark we walked to the Public Garden so I could climb a tree. There were so many huge Weeping Willows with bright yellow hanging twigs.
It was a beautiful sight and I really wanted to climb one. I went around to a few but none were right (or I just couldn’t climb them). So we walked a little further and around a pond was my tree.
It had a nice leaning trunk that I knew would help me get to the very high and large branches.
We walked over to the base and I felt the bark. It was nice and strong and deeply ridged. I was ready for this beast. I scaled the massive trunk nervous that if one of my hand or foot holds slipped I’d slide right back down. But they held and I reached the first branch. I pulled myself up to my feet and looked to where I could go next. I was nervous about all the people so I knew I wasn’t going to try to go to the very top, but I still wanted to go higher than I was. I continued up one main limb to a spot just below a big nest.
I stopped there and took out my camera. James watched from below
as I took shots of the surrounding park
and cityscape.
When I was done shooting, I climbed just slightly higher to get a closer look at the nest. I couldn’t find a hole and wasn’t sure if it was inhabited, so I started my climb back down.
I got to the trunk, straddled it with my legs and slid down to the ground. Thank god for my awesome pants which allow me to do that with minimal discomfort. Double kneed, work pants with RipStop fabric. I recommend them for climbing.
So far, the Boston climbs have been incredible. Much more relaxed than in New York.
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