“I PLACED A JAR IN TENNESSEE.” Sullivan illustrates his article with photographs of products of the industrial world—a hydrant, a bottle, a plastic cup—located amidst plants in New York City parks. Of course, the objects change the way we perceive nature. I am reminded of one of my favorite Wallace Stevens poems:
Anecdote of the Jar
Wallace Stevens
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
It took dominion every where.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.
And then there were Annalisa’s river gods. Has this been discussed already? Annalisa took a course at Good Ole Carnegie Mellon about Eco Art. Her project was to make clay (?) river god models, leave them in the outdoors, e.g., a public park, and then photograph the effects of leaving them out in the elements. However, while she and another student were “installing” their project, a couple of people strolled by and phoned the police, announcing that two young women were burying babies in the park! Their professor was on hand to prevent an arrest. Phil said it’s too bad they weren’t arrested. It would have been great publicity for their art. And that is what the art world has come to.