Catalog Description of 

Stone

Digital Edition

 

by
Michael Andrews

The work collected here under the title of Stone represents both poetry and photography that spans nearly every one of my major projects. Stones, it seems, are ubiquitous.    

The two major categories relating to stone are stone found in the natural ecosystem and stone worked by human artisans as found in archeological ruins and other monuments. Work regarding stone as found in its natural state is derived largely from two projects, RiverRun and The Place Where I Will Die. The San Juan River in Southern Utah, as represented in RiverRun, probably represents the widest  variety of stones. I am not a geologist, but I do suspect that the varieties found in the territories that surround deep river canyons is probably greater than in most other natural areas. It seems to not only come in more flavors but the stone also comes in more shapes, sculpted by river, wind, ice and glaciation.    

The stone found in The Place Where I Will Die  is most often granite, sometimes forms of igneous rock such as obsidian, and the odd variety of crystal such as quartz. Fool’s Gold played a very large part in our lives for that brief moment remembered as childhood. Obsidian was most likely carried by Indian populations from more remote sites such as the Devil’s Postpile, brought to summer camps and worked into arrowheads, knives, axes and scrapers. In terms of style, the stone in the Sierra Nevadas runs to the monumental, solemn, stately, solitary and grand. On the other hand we also find the intimate and friendly feeling of stones tumbled for geological eras in beds of streams. When I see new roadwork desecrating the wilderness it is somehow jarring to find something like crushed gravel, an alien and unnatural form of rock.    

As for the human use of stone, it is most often represented by work that pertains to archeological ruins and other monuments, such as; Troy, Delphi, The Acropolis, Knossos, Stonehenge, Notre Dame, Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Taos, Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Mitla, Palenque, Tikal, Sechin, Paramonga, Pachacamac, Sacsahuaman, and Machu Picchu. Often this is stone incorporated into monumental structures. It is because of such use that throughout human history stone has been associated with the sacred. Sometimes it is stone that has been sculpted as statuary or relief. More rarely, it is stone carved from the living rock, that is, some sort of stone carving or sculpture still embedded in its natural matrix, such as the Condor represented in the prison at Machu Picchu. The Intihuatana at Machu Picchu is carved in situ, and like stone work found in many places of the world represents an early form of scientific instrument for measuring the motions of stars, the seasons, the tracking of time and the necessities of agriculture.     

Stone, incidentally, was also used by the Inca as a means of state execution for particularly heinous crimes. Boulders were piled on top of the perpetrator until the life was simply crushed out of him. Somehow, this seems less violent than the Biblical means of stoning a criminal to death.     Another source of imagery is the metaphorical use of stone or rock in poetry, such as, "granite thoughts / plummet through the air." Although stone as symbol is found throughout my work and art in general, I can only guess what makes stone so attractive to humans aside from it obvious utilitarian uses. My first and vaguest hypothesis would simply be that stone is enduring. As something so non-volatile, something so hard and unchanging perhaps it suggests to us the state that we long for our own fragile and transient spirits to aspire to; a certain peace, a kind of calm, a sort of imperturbable dignity.

That seems like more than enough, so I will let it go at that.

 

 

 

6x9 Edition

First Printed 2004

94 6x9 inch pages of text using Antikva and Marlon Book typefaces, integrated with 58 photographic illustrations and printed on 190 gram, Entrada Natural, a 100% rag, archival paper.  There are a total of 24 separate photographic pigment prints printed on 300 gram, Entrada Natural. Each print is numbered and signed by the author.

 

The edition is loose leaf in linen binding with the cover image in a recessed window. The cover image is printed on 220 grit sandpaper.

 

The standard slipcase is made of Pine, Fir, Redwood, Cedar or Poplar. For an additional $75.00  Oak, Mahogany or Maple may be ordered. For an additional $100.00 Rosewood, Teak, Walnut, Cherry, Padouk or Cocobolo may be ordered. The window is clear lucite. Individual prints are available in various sizes.

 

Photographic Illustrations 

1    Inca Stone, Machu Picchu, 1979  

7    Rock & Lichen, Highway 140, Yosemite 2002  

8    Troy VII, 1971  

9    Lithographic Text, Troy 1971

10    Lion Mosaic, Pella 1971

11    Athena Hygeia by Scopas

12    Hegeso Proxena Grave Stele, Cemetery of Keramikos, Athens

14    The Acropolis Cat #2 1974

15    Acropolis, Dawn 1974

16    Acropolis Collums, 1974

17    Pattern Of Rock #2, San Juan River 1976

19    Hoseynieh Ershad, Tehran 1974

21    Stone Walls, Sacsahuaman, Afternoon Storm 1976

22    Stone Walls, Sacsahuaman, Late Afternoon 1979

25    Stone On Stone, Sacsahuaman 1979

26    Numeric Stones, Machu Picchu 1976

27    Stone & Cloud, Sacsahuaman 1976

28    Intihuatana. Machu Picchu, Huaynpicchu, Clouds 1976

29    Intihuatana, Machu Picchu & Huaynpicchu, Clouds & Stairs 1976

30    Stone Altar, The Urubamba & Huaynpicchu, Machu Picchu 1976

31    Stone Condor, The Prison at Machu Picchu 1979

32    Machu Picchu, Stone Cubicles 1979

33    The Geometry Of Stone, Machu Picchu 1979

35    Tiahuanacan Monolith, La Paz 1976

39    Stream Bed Rocks, Portuguese Creek 1998

40    Stone Gutters, San Juan River 1976

41    Rick Stepping Toward The Sun, San Juan River1976

42    Sandstone Butt, San Juan River1976, facing

43     Gnarled Juniper, Grand Gulch, San Juan River1976

46     The, fate Of Stone, San Juan River1976

47     Hot Stone, Slickhorn Gulch, San Juan River 1976

51     Corbel Passageway, Monte Alban 1979

52     The Author, Monolithic Head, Monte Alban 1979

53     Monolithic Head, Monte Alban 1979

54     Stone Relief, Monte Alban 1979

55     Nightfall, Monte Alban 1979

57     Stairs Down To Pacal’s Tomb, Temple Inscriptions, Palenque 1979

58     Pacal’s Sarcophogas, Temple Of Inscriptions, Palenque1979

59     Stone Jaguar, Relief, Palenque 1979

61     Stone Relief, Palenque 1979

63     Plaza At Tikal, from Temple 3, 1979

64     Hands, Grafitti At Tikal, 1979

67     Tikal, Pyramid 1, from Pyramid 2, 1979

69     The Author, Sundial, Tikal, 1979

70     Sunrise Tikal, 1979

71     Brad Mimics Tummy Ache, Sechin 1979

72     The Author Shooting Reliefs, Sechin 1979

74     Stone Stairs, Caretaker’s Hut, Machu Picchu 1979

76     Stone Ghetto, Machu Picchu 1979

77     Stream, & Two Rocks 1986

78     Seal Rock, Graveyard 2002

79     Salmon Hole In Granite, San Juan River 1976

80     Sandstone Pool, San Juan River1976

81     Stone And Holes, San Juan River1976

83     Stream Rocks, Chiquito Creek

87     Pop At Globe Rock, 1990

88     Blue Rock & Lichen, Highway140, Yosemite #H1, 2002

90     Grave Stones, Graveyard

 

Photographic Prints

facing   7    Sand & Stones, San Juan River 1976

facing 13    Stones Chattering, San Juan River 1976

facing 18    Stones, Chiquito Creek

facing 22    Sacsahuaman, Wall 19794

facing 26    Sacsahuaman Wall & Cloud, 1976

facing 28    Intihuatana, Machu Picchu 1976

facing 36    Faces Of Tiahuanaco, La Paz1976

facing 37    Rock, face, San Juan River 1976

facing 42    Sandstone Butt, San Juan River1976,

facing 44    Sandstone Pattern, San Juan River1976

facing 45    Alkaline Pool, San Juan River1976 f

acing 48     Flowers In A Crack Of Rock, The Balls f

acing 62     Relief Of Old Man Smoking, Palenque 1979

facing 65     Tikal #1, 1979

facing 73     Inca Stone Tiers, MachuPicchu 1979

facing 74     Intihuatana, Machu Picchu 1979

facing 76     Inca Stone, Machu Picchu

facing 77     Butt Rock, 1976

facing 78     Trickle On Rock, The Balls 1976

facing 82     Stream Rocks, San Juan River 1976

facing 84     Rock, Pine & Lake, Lower Jackass Lake

facing 85     Stone Patterns, San Juan River 1976

facing 86     Globe Rock

facing 88     Blue & Yellow Rock, Highway 140, Yosemite #V1, 2002