Del Geist

Friday, December 24, 2010

Del Geist

Del Geist has integrated art into the public realm for more than 30 years. As an artist, using the natural sciences as a palette, he has developed major site-specific artworks throughout the US and Europe. His environmental artworks elicit unique qualities inherent to a place, fostering a viewer's direct sensory experience. The stone and earth, metaphorically, contain the natural history of a region and its geology, capturing the spirit and flavor of an area.

Among his past projects are Artpark in Lewiston, NY, where he installed a group of 72 slate-on-wood structures; Grizedale Forest Sculpture Park in Cumbria, England, where Silurian slate centered the energy of an old stone quarry; and the University of Papua New Guinea, where Del worked with students installing a teak wood tower using traditional techniques. Other site works are at the West Dade Regional Library in Miami, Florida, in Berlin, Germany, and South-Korea.

Recently, Del Geist and Patricia Leighton collaborated on Barum Stenning in Barnstable, England, commissioned by Devon County Council; and on Passage, at the US Border Station, in Roosville, Montana, commissioned by GSA Art-in-Architecture.

Jeju Pasu, 2010, South-Korea

Volcanic Lava Flow and Steel, Jeju Museum of Art, 2010.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Varka

Varka, 2000, structure of regional large black slate slabs installed upon steel base. Exhibited at Grounds for Sculpture Museum, Hamilton, New Jersey. 8 feet high X 38 feet long X 9 feet wide. Photo credit: German Pitre.

Berlin Clavon Tower

Berlin Clavon Tower, 1999, Regional sandstone with fossilization, carried by a stainless steel tower. Commissioned by Michael Jahr for Constanza Pressehaus, Berlin, Germany. The sculpture functions as a ‘marker’ on a major Boulevard. Dimensions: 18.2 feet high x 7 feet x 7 feet

Barum Stenning

Barum Stenning, 2007. Barnstaple Western Bypass, North Devon, England.
Del Geist and Patricia Leighton collaborated on this project, developing a series of integrated sculptural markers for an ambitious new road development in North Devon, England. The sculpture is reflective of the history of the area and incorporates 12 steel structures filled with "elevated" Devonian Slate slabs. The artwork's theme is taken from the Devonian period of geology, when the first forests appeared on earth. Two monumental Topiary Hedgewall forms, 6 meters high x 18.5 meters long, are sited in the extension areas on either side of the squareabout. The stone and steel structures are each 4 meters high x 8 meters long. Photo credit: Laurentiu Garofeanu. Commissioning Agency: Devon County Council, UK.

Passage

Passage, 2003. United States Government Border Station, Roosville, MT.
Del Geist and Patricia Leighton collaborated to develop the entire landscape design for this project. The site-specific sculpture pays homage to the movement of time and people within the region. Seen here is one of five Precambrian Belt rock boulders, 1.3 billion years old, each weighing 20 to 30 tons. The boulders have been elevated onto steel legs alluding to a sense of carrying or uplifting. The boulders are situated among 18 earthworks along a 1,000-foot corridor, bringing to mind the sand dunes, glacial cirques, and field of drumlins nearby. Photo credit: Laurentiu Garofeanu. Commissioning Agency: GSA Art-in-Architecture.

Kanal

Kanal, 2000, steel tower with regional black slate slabs. Exhibited here at Grounds Sculpture Museum, Hamilton, NJ. Dimensions: 20 feet high x 23 feet long x 7.5 feet wide. Photo credit: German Pitre.

Clavis Tower

Clavis Tower, 1993 is a steel tower suspending a natural quarried stone. The 40 ft tower elevates an aspect of geology as monument to strike a balance between the man-made and the natural, both physically and metaphorically. The stone is set in tension viewed against the backdrop of New York City at Socrates Sculpture Park.

Portage

Portage, 1990, Installation at Artpark, in Lewiston, New York. The work is constructed from 72 slabs of rough quarried red slate, each resting upon a hewn tripod, or "travois". The stones measure 6 to 9 feet across while the tripod is 4 feet high by 8 feet deep. The sculpture occupies an area 450 ft by 90 ft and is situated on a land trail which was used by Niagara River travelers to circumnavigate Niagara Falls. The red Silurian slate marks the area of this activity or 'passage'. The stone dates from the same geological time period as much of the stone underlying the Niagara region. The work intends to allow the viewer to explore a connection to the earth and to history.

Berlin Clavis

Berlin Clavis III, 1996, black slate & steel, 45 x 59 x 8 inches.

Hohe Steinschlitten

Hohe Steinschlitten, 1996, permanent installation commissioned by the Internationales Kunstforum, Drewen, Brandenburg, Germany. Two site-specific steel tower structures incorporate the historical context of the village. One tower utilizes indigenous field stone, and the other local brick. The elevated stone and brick sets up a dialogue with the 14th Century Church as well as other surrounding buildings. They are installed in the village square. Dimensions: each are 20 feet high x 8 feet x 11 feet.

Jama

Jama, 1999, basalt stone and steel. 54 x 25 x 21 inches.

Pyxis

Pyxis, 1986, an installation in Grizedale Forest Sculpture Park, Cumbria, England. The work is constructed with local Silurian slate and situated within an abandoned stale quarry. The block acts as a receptacle of energies for a man-made scar left upon nature. The construction is 41 x 56 x 56 inches within an area 60 feet x 100 feet. The work was commissioned by Northern Arts, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK.

Steinschlitten auf dem Feld

Steinschlitten auf dem Feld (Stone Sledges in the Field), 1996, installation at Internationales Kunstforum, Drewen, Brandenburg, Germany. Nine steel structures carrying either glacial fieldstone or brick, referring to the materials of the village, and it’s history. Each unit is 3.3 feet high by 8 feet by 7 feet.