Arts & Culture
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CALLING ALL arts & cultureADDICTS Oops. We did it again. experience when art moves giants who hunted, fished, We played with your heart you. And that's just it—our loved, and wrote in Sun and got lost in the game. theme for this issue's arts Valley. And finally, we share And there you have it—a and culture section—art that our musical crush with you— Britney Spears allusion at moves us. From a sculptor Time for Three, a classically- the opening of a celebration in Jackson, Wyoming, to a trained trio shaking things of the arts and culture in our photographer sometimes up with Sun Valley Summer mountain towns. But we are based in Sun Valley, Idaho, Symphony. These are just unapologetic when it comes and an encaustic painter some of the reasons that to mixing our low culture with out of Park City, Utah, the life is big out here. So, yes, our high culture. You have to artists walking among us oops. We did it again. We're have the lows to appreciate currently push us to think bringing you even more the flights of fancy, the deeper and see the world reasons to love life here and whirlwinds of whimsy, and from different angles. We all the quirky humans living it elegance of elevated thought also tip our literary hat to with you. &and consideration that you Hemingway, a giant among THE UNITED STATES OF BEN Jackson’s Environmental Artist and Sculptor words by JENNIFER WALTON • photography by DAVID STUBBS 132 biglife As the crowd starts to filter into the bar, the lights are low ADDICTS and the energy is high. On stage Andrew Sheppard takes a break from dialing in the sound check to accept a can of Coors sent up from the bartender. For the past few years, Sheppard has been roaming around the country, settling into life on the road, hustling from gig to gig, and putting all his thoughts and experiences to paper—experiences and songs captured on his first full-length solo record, Far From Here. Tonight, Sheppard is back in Idaho, where he grew up, to play a record release show. When the band fires up, it’s obvious that they have a strong following and by the second song anyone who was on the fence is fully focused on the show on stage. Sheppard looks completely at home belting out the songs that fill his album and the crowd shows their gratitude twirling and stomping about. The record is a mix of styles, drawing from the honest storytelling of traditional country music, the rowdy energy of rock and roll, and the compelling sounds of soul music. And the lyrics, they ring with life. In Argentine Tango, when a man leads “in a sweeping motion the circular movement of his partner’s foot while pressed against his own,” it is known as the “bicicleta.” This lifting and lowering movement resembles pedaling on a bicycle. Jackson Hole artist and sculptor, cyclist, sherman, and yep, passionate tango dancer Ben Roth reminds us that art is all about the ride. This is the story of an artist whose latest piece, America Dreaming, began the moment he made a star out of ten links from a recycled bicycle chain. Ben lives in the moment, all while he designed exqui- tive tour that included a form, he might use wood, ABOVE: Roth working on his Teton Mountains sculpture whose home on and off his bike, in and site bespoke sustainable sighting of his well-known steel, iron, bronze, clay, will be in Chicago at the Stio store. out of the studio, in and near furniture, stairways, gates, animals sculpted from metal plaster, porcelain, glass, OPPOSITE: American Dreaming, a sculpture made entirely from the river, and up and down and fences, and generated screen, a sleek stainless or fiberglass for his sculp- recycled bike chains. the mountain. Fourteen years thought-provoking sculpture steel Murphy-type bed, a tures. His process is one of of those collective moments based on the environment large bell awaiting refurbish- assembling—objects he has led to creating and install- and conservation. ing for a friend who will designed, salvaged, and ing memorable public art I went his studio armed use it as a memorial, and sometimes even built “on the for the National Museum with a trio of chilled Zola a sumptuous bronze turtle fly.” This process suggests of Wildlife Art, The Murie coconut waters infused with shell, he rolls a round bike that his work tells more Center, Jackson Hole Public espresso. I was greeted with chain link globe towards me. than his own story; his work Art, Teton County Recreation the sparkly-eyed smile of a I catch it before it falls off pieces together the stories Center, and Jackson Hole young boy who has just been his worktable. It feels good of others—stories that reflect Mountain Resort. A board told he is receiving the bike in my hands; I want to hold the communities he lives in member at Teton Artlab, the of his dreams for Christmas. it all day, as a talisman for and takes part in. Art like only year-round residency He is that generous soul adventure and good fortune. Ben’s inevitably starts a con- program within an hour of whose infectious energy cap- However, Ben tells me once versation—and that's when both Yellowstone and Grand tivates. Here’s what I learned he makes an opening in things get really interesting. Teton National Parks that about Ben within minutes— the globe, it will become a Ben’s curiosity and provides studio space and he’s polite, intelligent, and birdhouse destined for the spontaneity have nurtured housing to young artists, blissfully submerged in art, Community Safety Network, his connection to the natural he shared his studio and sculpture, community, and a Jackson non-profit that has world in the Rocky Mountain words by JENNIFER WALTON • photography by DAVID STUBBS assembling wisdom with the environment. commissioned this work. West and his artwork has visiting artists-in-residence, After a brief but descrip- Devoted to texture and tied him to the commu- biglife 133 arts & culture making all these memories link in my imagination does & not escape me. While the piece is undeni- “I NEEDED TO JUST DRIVE AND ably poetic and powerful, HUSTLE FROM TOWN TO TOWN Ben has broadened my awareness of the environ- AND COME UP WITH MATERIAL. AS ment by exploring the A SONGWRITER YOU NEED THAT relationship to his locale. RAMBLIN’ LIFESTYLE—IT’S THE Environmental art's (or eco- FREEDOM TO GO WHEREVER YOU art's) mission is to improve our relationship to nature. WANT AND YOU’RE ALWAYS GOING Ben lives a low-impact life, TO HAVE A STORY TO TELL.” preferring his bike to his van. But, his high-impact art is still what he describes as an “approach to problem-solv- ing.” Just watch the Jackson Hole Public Art video titled, “Fallen,” and the creation and installation of his white bark pine tree sculpture. Or his Council of Pronghorn, ex- hibited at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York. In the case of America Dreaming, the flag is sym- bolic of our independence, but it also evokes the lurking environmental question: can we remember those child- hood (and adulthood) days thing around me. I stood in minds. I rest my eyes on the of riding until dark, with only silence in front of his recent details in the links and the our legs as power, without piece. Measuring 48"x30” subtlety of the color varia- the need for gas or oil for and weighing in at over 80 tion, and realize why it packs outdoor recreation? Can and pounds, America Dreaming such a punch. It’s because it will we continue to address is our national flag created evokes memories of freedom. our true nature of freedom from approximately 100 It’s because I want to be and independence sustain- bike chains recycled entirely near the memories created ably? Ben says, “The first from bike shops, family, and from all those rides, and time I do something new, friends. Remember that “one chains, and lives. I wonder it’s scary and thrilling and star” moment? Five hundred where the miles and miles of almost mystical because links are now 50 stars. Our memories were made, and if I don’t know what’s go- nation’s stripes? Our eyes the bike’s chain rode over a ing to happen. Then I keep register the “left out to twisted backcountry trail, a experimenting and along rust” chains as red, and the busy downtown street, or an comes the confidence.” Like Gray with Aqua and Orange. 49 x 53 inches. Quilted linen/cotton, framed. shiny (cleaned with N-14, ocean-sprayed boardwalk. I that first ride, dance, or piece nity. Whether it's his Teton an environmentally-friendly, imagined rides when one’s of art, we can choose where Mountains screen sculpture all-natural degreaser) chains spirit is chiseled by the we want to go and what that is heading to Jackson as white. The stars’ back- unexpected—the sage-filled memory we want to take Hole-based Stio's Chicago ground is treated to appear air, a split-second view of along with us while conserv- store or his screen animals, blue, again environmentally. wildlife, a seemingly endless ing nature and embracing Ben's work reveals a way of Prior to soldering the chains sunset. This accompanying humanity. With Ben, it’s all approaching the world and into place, the piece was laid sensation of connection is about nature and art.