Mixed media: Grass, sand and rock. A site-specific installation created in Juneau, Alaska by the arts group, Arts-R-Us. The circle’s diameter is approximately 65 feet.
On a cool fall morning the Arts-R-Us artists gathered on an isolated beach of hard-packed sand, black with rain. At the center of the circle rested a massive jade-green, conical-shaped stone. The artists work together efficiently and harmoniously, gathering the tall grasses that grew on the outer edge of the beach, now golden in its fall color. A large circle was scribed in the sand from the center of the rock and the long shanks of grass were placed on the edge of the circle, like a great fan, radiating out from the stone. A pattern of widening concentric circles were cut into the wet sand with rakes, from the rock to the inner edge of the circle.The work was finished quietly by a team of artists who shared a common bond and spoke a common visual language. The piece had cost nothing to create, took no planning and was complete in a morning. It was elegant in its simplicity and immensely satisfying. The next day I returned, alone, to look once again at the work. Save the large stone, it had been completely erased in a fall storm that blew across the beach during the night.