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| Welcome to the "Wedding Fest"... |
| PROCESS AND PURPOSE: This is a wedding of community and nature. This year's project began during the last week of June, when the river had receded adequately, allowing access to the rocks on the solid riverbed. The river is quite a dynamic part of the works'development, providing a different "canvas" each year...always the same, yet always different. The riverbed is solid limestone and is cracked vertically and laterally, created by glaciers compressing the stone only to reboud and crak when the ice melted. These cracks have been split open and separated by every winter freeze for the past 20,000 years. This process creates the linear geometrical slabs used in the sculptures. The glaciers also imported the round rocks from northern Canada. The terraced landscape of the riverbed allows for the rocks to collect there in abundance. There's also a natural amphitheatre overlooking the site. The site itself is part of a park situated in downtown Ottawa, and is regulated by the National Capital Commission (NCC), a federal agency protecting public land and is responsible for funding the project since 2000. The NCC and I share a mutual perception: respect for the environment and community. I found the Remic Rapids site in 1986 and immediately realized that this is a place in the earth which generates power and energy, a 'power spot'. The first attraction to the site was the river, the rocks followed. I'd practiced Taoist and Buddist principles since the 60's, and found that the practice had a three dimensional expression with the rocks. The identification I have with the work is the same as that of a Zen Garden, creating a balance of space by the placement of each item, while promoting a peaceful, nurturing environment. When I began this 'public art' practice in 1986, the local media highlighted the event and quoted me as saying that "this place is magic", and after 20 years, the magic is now shared with everybody who comes to the site. Click on image to continue... |
| "Mariner's Wedding"/05 In homage to Samuel Taylor Coleridge'poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by John F.Ceprano Ottawa,Canada |