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A few other recent favorites

Stone Poem #022f Fort Point, San Francisco c. B. Chukerman 1998

This piece is one of my all time favorites. The day was sunny and crisp. There were sailboats on the bay and playful seals darting under and around the pier all day. As I photographed this piece, it reminded me of one of those trained seals from the Ed Sullivan show, balancing it's ball on cue. It stayed up overnight and throughout most of the next day until a huge seagull (I swear it was as big as a Volkswagen) tried to use it as a perch to oversee it's kingdom.

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Stone Poem #027f Fort Point, San Francisco c. B. Chukerman 1998

Most of my recent work revolves around finding the centers and utilizing points on points to balance the gravitational forces at work. In some cases, I ignored most of the points in the interest of multiples and heighth. My goal here was to make some guardians, some tall ones to oversee the rest. I think I had 11 or 12 stones here, with only the top on point. Some of these with lots of surface stood for weeks.

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Stone Poem #034f Fort Point, San Francisco c. B. Chukerman 1998

I generally check the tide tables before going out to work here, but I forgot this morning. As it happens, it was a five foot tide at about 4:00 in the afternoon, one of the highest I've ever experienced. Several of these pieces withstood the forces of the tides overnight. It surprised me, but what a great feeling to find them the next morning. Like seeing an old friend again. The seal in the background played there for hours. I couldn't help but wonder if he was laughing at me...you know...the stupid human tricks.

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Stone Poem #036f Fort Point, San Francisco c. B. Chukerman 1998
The tide kept coming...and coming...and coming. The seals kept laughing at me as they watched me hauling these stones over the slippery rock, with the waves soaking me every few seconds. Highest tide of the year so far, but worth every effort.

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Stone Poem #044f Fort Point, San Francisco c. B. Chukerman 1998

I hung around til dark today, watching and listening to people who happened upon this site. "Think maybe the aliens did it?" one asked. Somebody else swore they were glued. Another carefully explained the way the tides come in and leave precise rock deposits, with scenes like this being the result. Several people tested them and were surprised when they fell. I hung back in the perimeters for a while, just enjoying the comments and watching people wonder. Its a nice feeling at the end of a day to look at a scene like this and know I made it.

Most of these "Stone Poems"
were created and photographed over 9/13/98 9/14/98 in preparation for a Ford commercial shot. The commercial will begin airing around October 15th, and will run for about 6 months on a national level. The shoot was super the people were great. They were genuinely appreciative of the work and very complimentary. The next photo was taken during that shoot should give you an idea of the setting. You'll have to keep your eyes peeled because screen time for my sculptures will probably be about 1.5 seconds, with the orange juggler in the midst of them, (not yet meeting Warhol's prediction of everybody getting 15 seconds of fame, but better than no exposure at all).

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On another note, I broke my hand in mid-September and won't be lifting any heavy rocks for a few months. I'll be back though...& hope to be showing these photographs and others soon.

I hope you like the new work. Let me know. And THANKS to those of you who have helped. I also appreciate all the referrals I've been getting. KEEP 'EM COMING!

Stay balanced...& WATCH Your TOES!

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Rockman (Barry Chukerman)
email me at rockmansf@aol.com

For the protection of my art, all images are copyrighted and are not in the public domain. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system (with the exception of www browser caches), or transmitted in any form, without the prior written of Rockman. If you want to share it with a friend or use it as a screensaver, please feel free. Just don't take unfair advantage, please.

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