Can stone sculptures sing?
It's pretty interesting to read that the stones of Stonehenge might have been erected as a sort of
instrument, a stone bell, to be rung. Here is another article about Stonehenge's singing stones, or
"lithophones."
Lithophones, seriously? I guess I wasn't paying enough attention during my archaeology classes.
Jesus Moroles is a stone sculptor who lives on the Gulf Coast of Texas. I first experienced his sonic
stone sculptures at Cesar Chavez park in Seattle. It was pretty cool to "play" the sculptures. I guess
that there is a documentary about the sculptures by Jennifer Maas, "Seasonal Soil...Singing Stones,"
from 2003.
Speaking of Jesus Moroles sculptures, here is a typical review of his from the NY Times. I've
experienced a couple of his pieces and have found some subtle and playful work, as well as some
so/so imagery. But, that's pretty much inline with about most artist's work I've seen out there. What
gets under my skin, is the institutional bias against traditional materials in sculpture within the North
American art scene. When I get worked up to a full-blown rant, I can always retreat to the well worn
refrain, "if I were only in Europe, then people would get my work, Americans are so close minded."
Ha!