hotsprings and conclusions

hot springs pool

Banff as a place was essentially founded as a fortuitous tourist town, with which to fund the trans-Canada railway. Thanks be to whatever that, while they were building the cross-continental railway, some of the workers found some sulphurous springs in a very pretty valley and bingo, Banff was born. ta daaa.

And then that grew into a national park and it was all very nice, tho how much of the park's foundation was to preserve the viability of tourism in the valley is an undiscussed point. A wildlife corridor runs up behind the original hot springs site. I have a bit of a problem with the term wildlife corridor - I always think that it infers that at each end of said corridor is a wildlife friendly wilderness of gargantuan proportions, and it is only the corridor that is rather thin... however, I'm learning that the wildlife corridors is North America are, infact, the main event for the wildlife within... so they're living in the hallway, so to speak. And the corridor is bookended with condos. I need to read up on this to see if I'm way off on this point, but that's my impression...

The northern/southern hemisphere thing is still doing things to my head. The moss is on the North side of the trees. The south walls are the sunny ones. I'll get there. Its only that what Im wanting to make here is so founded in natural parameters. I need to become intimate with the suns path for everything to work properly..

moss at base of drain below ceramics studio

moss is so big here - so big. it is its own environment. It couches everything beneath the trees and makes walking in the woods a slightly surreal and very sensual experience - every step is sofly padded - I keep on feeling like some sort of animal with big, soft paws.... which is no small feat in my hiking boots. It slows me down and makes me very respectful of what Im walking in, and on, and through....

I think moss is going to be a big part of what I do here - I guess it comes back to the "other" - that which we do not have... and the huge presence of water and how forgiving the landscape is here seems embodied in the moss - the landscape seems so severe above the treetops, and so sleepy below... but clearly waking up right now, coming into summer. little orchids everywhere.

thinking of combining the weaving ideas with moss and ending up with a woven frame, innoculated with moss, for some of the mountains... will decide where to try one tomorrow. I'm also keen to extend the ideas behind litter towards a more site-specific creation - so intending to do quite a few of those while I'm here - perhaps at bow falls?

bow falls from above - rapids really...

I have been realising how big an influence herman de vries has been - I picked up his Chance and Change at my very most favourite bookshop ever, Published Art last year, and I am so glad that I did... a very quiet but robust presence he is.... have particularly been thinking about his work documenting multiple moments in a stream... can find no images online but examples are in the book (which is in a box in australia.. sob..). I think that work is a big influence on litter, and will be on future works.... go herman, you lovely old geezer...

went for a walk yesterday up the sundance trail - the mose picturesque yet, I believe.. crazy. So.. empty! except for holidayers in blue plastic canoes, and walkers. And I saw two geese. But... I was expecting... more non-human inhabitants I suppose.. since the environment seems so capable of sustaining so very much. Think I need to explore a bit more.. I feel like I'm missing large chunks of the feel of this place... looking for a better understanding of how the rampant human aspect interacts with whats left of the rest....

bow river, looking downstream towards banff