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June 05, 2005

Ashes & Snow

Michelle and I went to see Ashes and Snow yesterday. It's an awe inspiring collection of the works of Gregory Colbert.

From the New York Metro article:

"Over thirteen years and 33 expeditions (Burma, India, the waters off Tonga), Colbert has assembled what he calls “a loving exploration into the nature of animals in their natural habitat as they interact with human beings.” The people in his work include Burmese monks, trance dancers, and, of course, Colbert himself."

(You'll find an archived copy here.)

The show has been housed for the past month in a temporary "Nomadic Museum" constructed entirely of shipping cars (for the walls) and paper tubing (for the roof and columns) and housed at Pier 54 on the Hudson. The feeling upon entering the space is like being in a church. The center aisle is made of wooden planks, and Colbert's photographs are suspended on either side. The spotlights shining on the photos cast beautiful shadows onto the river stones that are to the left and right of the wooden walkway."

As to the work itself, it's hipnotic. You walk down the aisle thinking to yourself "This is amazing... how in the world did he capture these images? He must have used Photoshop...", only to find yourself watching a one hour film shown at the end of walkway that documents the creation of the very images you've just seen. "Yes, that actually is someone swimming with 3 humpbacked whales with no scuba gear. Yes, that really is a young child sitting serenely while a pack of African wild dogs circle menacingly". The images are other-worldly. It's an inspiring show that leaves you wanting to go out and purchase the "How the heck did he do this?" DVD, which unfortunately doesn't seem to exist. You're also left with a sense of how big this world of ours is, and how much you want to go out and spend time seeing more of it.










And here's a terrific Manhattan sunset to put an end to terrfic afternoon...

Posted by Thomas at June 5, 2005 06:48 PM

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