11/14/2005: Rock balancing
 

http://cellar.org/2005/rockbalance.jpg

Axlrosen finds this crazy rock balancing website, and suggests the above image from it all. Of all the various ways to spend your time, learning how to balance rocks and then taking video of yourself doing it is... low on my personal list, but the guy seems to get some spiritual fulfillment from it as he has a reflections page.

Which to me, begs the next question: why does everything these days need some sort of spiritual basis? Why can't rock balancing just be a cool thing to learn to do?

It reminds me of the "backwards photography" movies use sometimes. Like he had someone stack the rocks and hold them up (probably one person for each column there) then on cue they'd all move out of the camera view, picture was taken, and rocks fall ;p

1. He does this where it's always windy.
2. Birds landing on his work doesn't topple them.
3. I smell super glue. :eyebrow:

No no, this is real. I saw this done at the Exploratorium in San Fran. It was really cool.

I drive by a place where this is done and redone several times a week. I've often thought of stopping and snapping a picture. Ok, now I have something to connect it to. I really don't think there's anything but rocks and gravity and friction and patience involved.

Oh, and welcome to the cellar, Cory Wire. :welcome:

No shit? Really? That's amazing. Must have had big contact surfaces to keep a bird from toppling them. Of course he wouldn't post pictures of the ones the birds did topple. :lol:
Thanks Cory Wire, how'd you wander into the Cellar?

Confession?

Or, why can't we just call this GAY?

:corn: well, a lot of art IS gay.

I know, that baffled me. Maybe the fact that the rocks are so big and heavy makes them less likely to topple over?

Is there a picture on his site showing this or something?

Yes...go to UT's link in the first post and click on Gallery. Then down at the bottom of the gallery click on the next Gallery, etc, etc. 6 all together, I think. :cool:

They do a variation of that around here; this is a horrible example, but I don't have my camera on hand at the moment. And I'm lazy.

<img src="http://uoregon.edu/~gvidas/photos/rocks4.jpg">

(not pictured: the rest of the willamette, showing how far one would have to wade out to put those rocks up (pretty far.))

Thanks for the welcome, everybody. I love this site---been lurking a pretty long time. I think I found out about it from Feces Flinging Monkey.

Life must have balance, Danielson...
Very interesting. Not just the rock balancing but the fact that someone has THAT MUCH FU#@ING TIME TO WASTE. Well maybe it wasn't wasted... it got him a slot on the Cellar.

capn, there are links on the guy's website to a bunch of people that do this around the country. :drool:

yeah.. there's something mysical about this. I'm trying to recall the guy in Fla. that built a home/city out of rock. He had like two ton rocks balanced for doors, gates, etc. He started having too many visitors and moved it quite a ways away. (Overnite if I recall). And he claimed to use no modern equipment. I think it is still open for the public . Even tho the dude died and left no revalation as to his "secrets".

Ah, yes, the best art always comes from deep inside schizophrenia.

Sometimes art comes from Fremont, the center of the universe.

A couple more, one particularly massive.

A close up of the topmost joint of the second picture, showing daylight coming through.

And a nice picture of Lenin supervising some road construction. :p

Wait a damn minute here. You expect me to believe those rocks just sit there balancing through weather, wind and vibrations of traffic going by? :eyebrow:
Nobody sees them as a public safety hazard?

I still ain't buyin it....

Well I'll add my voice to the people who've seen it in person. There were about 7 or 8 people stacking them, and several dozen stacks where they were working on it, some of greater difficulty, some of less. It makes sense that they would balance on their center of gravity, it's just incomprehensible that they could remain that stable.

I've tried my hand at it without any special knowledge, and my conclusion is that it's at least as difficult as it looks. :headshake

I'm convinced it can be done but I seriously doubt their longevity.

I wasn't very good at playing Blockhead as a kid, so I'd probably be hopeless at this.

Wolf, not with your best effort or on your worst day, could you ever be a block-head. :love:

awwwwwwww :joylove:

I think the spiritual aspect is derived from exploiting natural forces and your own internal will and patience.

This morning's drive revealed *new* art! I passed at about 35mph, so I didn't get a good look, much less a picture, but if they're still standing and the light's good, I'll take another picture. There are about 4 - 5 of them, about six feet tall, all one stone on one stone, no wide multi stone bases.

These pics were from Monday. They're down now. :(

The sign says: Please do not touch the rocks, they are balanced. Uh, yah. In a pile on the ground. :p

The pile under the tarp is the remains of the wide high round base pictured above.

Last ones. Must be cold outside, the last one's wearing a scarf!

Those are neat, but I don't approve of them being located where they are, right next to a sidewalk. What happens when a curious tottler walks up to one just as the parent looks down to see the sign? Toddler pushes on a lower rock, parent just starts to yell "No!" as a 35 pound rock falls down onto the top of the kid's noggin, causing brain damage for the rest of her life. Not good.

Agreed, not a good idea in public space. :headshake

I bet the City government has regulations opposing these "works".

Savannah, Ga. made me take a prank sign down out of my own yard one time. Their problem: It was distracting to motorists. Imagine a pile of rocks..... kids....pets...
@BigV.......were they roped off or isolated in any way?
Just wondering. :cop: