Dave! @DaveInDenver You should write a article to vice on this. I bet you could get published for your finds.
2001 or 2020?
- Thread starter DanInDenver
- Start date
tancruiser
Trail Ready
It was probably just one of those Tesla truck stuck in the mud.😜
SteveH
Hard Core 4+
Seems like this goes here: https://babylonbee.com/news/strange-mysterious-stack-of-trump-votes-appears-in-the-utah-desert
maxpowerzz
Trail Ready
I love the discussion here! There's a chance this was created by Utah artist Adam Bateman, a friend of mine and an artist I've worked with in the past, http://kcpw.org/blog/in-the-hive/2020-12-01/monolith/
This is my own guess, but I feel like there's a good chance he helped with the installation but probably did not make it because he is a craftsman and very detail-oriented. I've worked on a few projects with him, from an 80,000 pound book sculpture, beautiful flower-like sculptures made from irrigation equipment, and an art project where he retraced the paths of his pioneer ancestors by walking 1100 miles from Nebraska to Utah with his dog (it even became cruiser-related because we met him the middle of Wyoming wilderness to resupply him with water and food). His art is often asking the same questions posted in this thread about conservation, abuse, access. Lots of interesting points here. We live in the age of FOMO and instagram. The Spiral Jetty has undergone a similar road with the public. For years it was submerged under water and the source of tales of being lost in the desert trying to find the elusive sculpture (Wasatch Cruisers often heads out there for a winter run). When the lake receded and it re-emerged from the water, a discussion in NYC led to the artwork (on private land) being "maintained" for public access. Part of the adventure of visiting the Spiral Jetty was the 3 hour journey to get there, ending on rough dirt roads that required a stout 4x4. Now the road is graded, there's a parking lot, and plentiful signage. I've probably been there over 100 times over the last decade, and what was once an inspiring journey where you were typically the only person for miles is now crowded with visitors and even the occasional tour bus. Artists have been interacting with the landscape for thousands of years. Here in Colorado the controversial Christo artwork was shutdown over protests about its affect on the landscape. No answers here, just more questions. But I think the best art makes us ask questions and think about what we do and why we're doing it.
This is my own guess, but I feel like there's a good chance he helped with the installation but probably did not make it because he is a craftsman and very detail-oriented. I've worked on a few projects with him, from an 80,000 pound book sculpture, beautiful flower-like sculptures made from irrigation equipment, and an art project where he retraced the paths of his pioneer ancestors by walking 1100 miles from Nebraska to Utah with his dog (it even became cruiser-related because we met him the middle of Wyoming wilderness to resupply him with water and food). His art is often asking the same questions posted in this thread about conservation, abuse, access. Lots of interesting points here. We live in the age of FOMO and instagram. The Spiral Jetty has undergone a similar road with the public. For years it was submerged under water and the source of tales of being lost in the desert trying to find the elusive sculpture (Wasatch Cruisers often heads out there for a winter run). When the lake receded and it re-emerged from the water, a discussion in NYC led to the artwork (on private land) being "maintained" for public access. Part of the adventure of visiting the Spiral Jetty was the 3 hour journey to get there, ending on rough dirt roads that required a stout 4x4. Now the road is graded, there's a parking lot, and plentiful signage. I've probably been there over 100 times over the last decade, and what was once an inspiring journey where you were typically the only person for miles is now crowded with visitors and even the occasional tour bus. Artists have been interacting with the landscape for thousands of years. Here in Colorado the controversial Christo artwork was shutdown over protests about its affect on the landscape. No answers here, just more questions. But I think the best art makes us ask questions and think about what we do and why we're doing it.
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gungriffin
Rising Sun Member
That book sculpture looks awesome. I bet that took some time to set up!
Yup. That was pretty cool.
maxpowerzz
Trail Ready
It took about 50 student volunteers a month to stack. The whole thing is just held together by pressure, no glue or nails but it was solid as a rock. We had to reinforce the floor and bring in some physics guys to be sure it wouldn't destroy the building. They were worried if there was an earthquake the sculpture would act like a kid when you bounce on a trampoline at the same time and launch each other really high. Crazy stuff!
DouglasVB
Rising Sun Member
Speaking of treasure, I didn't realize the Fenn Treasure had been found. And now the finder is trying to keep the location a secret so it's not completely destroyed by tourists: https://www.outsideonline.com/2419429/forrest-fenn-treasure-jack-stuef