The Tarriance

The 34-stone construction is made from stream-worn “pillow” basalt boulders gathered from a gravel bank along the Santiam River in Mill City, Oregon and 70 year-old hand split, cast-offs collected from an abandoned granite quarry in Haines, Oregon. The stones are held in place by gravity and friction aided by stainless steel pins for lateral strength. The total weight of the piece is 15 tons, the largest stone weighing 4 tons. The piece covers a 10’x30’ area and is 6’ tall at it’s highest point.

Sculpture, StoneDan SnowSeptember 12, 2012assemblage, central oregon community college, cocc, featured, oregon, sculpture, stone, tarriance, the tarriance

The Tarriance under Blue Skies

The 34-stone construction is made from stream-worn “pillow” basalt boulders gathered from a gravel bank along the Santiam River in Mill City, Oregon and 70 year-old hand split, cast-offs collected from an abandoned granite quarry in Haines, Oregon. The stones are held in place by gravity and friction aided by stainless steel pins for lateral strength. The total weight of the piece is 15 tons, the largest stone weighing 4 tons. The piece covers a 10’x30’ area and is 6’ tall at it’s highest point.

Sculpture, StoneDan SnowSeptember 2, 2012basalt, bend, cocc, featured, granite, oregon, sculpture, stone, tarriance, the tarriance

The Tarriance Sculpture - Setting a Stone Boulder

I’m delighted by this new-found perspective which has been amplified this past week by my being in Bend, Oregon. The city of 80,000 has doubled its population in the past 20 years. The increase is due in large measure by the influx of people like Jeff Fairfield and his wife Samantha. Both Maine natives, they moved to the Bend area 6 years ago to begin their careers building dry stone walls and teaching horseback riding. Jeff’s joining me on the Tarriance at COCC this week got the project off to a great start. After taking delivery on 15 tons of stone we made full-scale, foam board, mock-ups of the individual pieces. With them I could quickly try out different granite slab and basalt boulder arrangements.

Stone Hunting for the Tarriance

Stone hunting for The Tarriance sculpture project recently took me on a 1,300 mile, Oregon road trip. The trail led across dry shrub-lands, over evergreen-spired mountain passes, and along deep river gorges. In the west, three basalt boulders were located in a riverside gravel pit. In the east, slag from an abandoned granite quarry netted the thirty pieces I’ll use to construct the “raft” that the boulders will rest upon.

The Tarriance Sculpture Proposal

Being chosen as a finalist in a competition, and asked to submit a sculpture proposal, got me thinking. Here’s an institution of higher learning looking for a piece of art to grace the exterior of a new building on their campus. What could I offer that would enrich the sensory experience of students, faculty, staff and visitors? Equally important, how could a sculpture settle comfortably into the physical constraints of its surroundings? Landscape architect Todd Lynch and I put our heads together and came up with a proposal, now being reviewed, that I hope answers these questions.

ArtDan SnowFebruary 14, 2012art, competition, oregon, sculpture, tarriance