I'm going to Storm King!

Hello and Happy Friday! I hope you've all had a wonderful week and I'm sure that you all are most certainly looking forward to the weekend! I hope it's an excellent one for you! As you can tell, I'm super excited about my weekend plans. Last weekend was awesome and I went on an awesome hike along the Appalachian Trail (pictures coming soon...as soon as I upload them from my Canon!), and this weekend I have another equally awesome trip planned, with my awesome cousin, Elena.

As some of you may know, I've been attempting to go to Storm King for over a year. I first heard about this magical place last fall, and I had planned a trip with my aforementioned awesome cousin, and you'll never believe what happened that unfortunate weekend in October of 2011...it SNOWED! Yes, like the white powdery, flaky mess that grounds planes and destroys travel plans. I typically love snow if it involves snuggling on the couch and watching bad tv (or the first 48 hours...which is an incredible show that you should definitely check out once you finish reading this blog post!), but it's terrible if you've planned an awesome trip up the Garden State Parkway all the way to Mountainville, NY to go to Storm King! Since then, my cousin and I have (unsuccessfully) tried to visit this wonderful place, but we've finally nailed down a date and pending large deposits of snow or a horrific monsoon, we'll be making our way north tomorrow morning...bright and early! To say that I am excited is a huge understatement.

Storm King is one of the world's largest sculpture parks and it's home to over 100 sculptures...most of which have been created for site-specific installation at the art center. Storm King was created in 1960 and is currently situated on 500+ acres of land and is located in the lower Hudson Valley. East of Storm King Art Center is it's eponymous mountain...it's so beautiful and I can't wait to see it in person. This is an incredible showcase of the art center and its history and current collection. You should check it out! 

Also, I may or may not have a HUGE artist crush on William Lamson. He's so cool! Definitely check out this awesome video about William Lamson's creation of Solarium...his site-specific Storm King piece that is absolutely incredible. He's created this small house on the top of a hill and he uses carmelized sugar for the windows. It's brilliant and I love that no two panes are exactly the same color and I absolutely love the reflective properties of the windows. What an incredible concept and an even more incredible fabrication and execution of an intelligent idea! 

William Lamson, Solarium, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Pierogi Gallery.

Source: http://www.stormking.org/exhibitions/

I love the intimate feel of these artist videos. I love the up-close shots of Lamson and his ability to speak so honestly and openly about his process of creating Solarium. I especially enjoyed the reference to his previous work that used carmelized sugar as a window replacement and how the look has changed over time with the changing of the weather. I wonder how soon (if ever) Lamson will have to replace these windows in this small structure? When do you think they'll need replacing? This work is brilliant and I can't wait to see it in person tomorrow!

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures...I can't wait to share them with you! 

Have a wonderful weekend! Until next time....

xoxo