The form is based off Chinese scholar rocks or gong-shi (供石). Many cultures utilize a similar concept but they are decorative rocks placed in gardens for contemplation. They are also at times depicted in paintings and have other spiritual and health implications.
This process is about dealing with the past, using what is available now, and trying to make a better future. The reclaimed lumber was removed and repurposed from an apartment building in the Camp Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati. Originally built in 1900, over a century of repairs and different woods were used within. It’s a reminder that we are a part of nature, impermanent, and always changing.
The original inhabitants of the building most likely packed into small apartments and worked in factories along Spring Grove Avenue by Mill Creek. Once considered the most polluted water body in the United States, the Mill Creek Valley has been slowly cleaning and reclaiming itself after the throws of industrialization which have altered the landscape for centuries to come. The landscape of the urban Imago Nature Preserve, where it is installed coincidentally has also been repurposed from housing and like everything else in life, is in a state of becoming.
Images courtesy of Skip Cullen and Imago.