day twenty - twenty-four: santa fe quiet time
in santa fe, i was able to take a couple days to lean into some tidying i was hoping to do on this trip. it doesn’t make for terribly interesting journaling, but i will say that i finally got all the random bits of ideas for art installations pulled into one place. i now feel that oxymoronic freedom that comes from being organized. *pan out to the 10,000 foot view: i’m so grateful i could take this trip to experience art and adventure—and to also have the time to synthesize what i’ve seen. it’s rare that i (we?) have the second part.
one afternoon, after coffee with friends carole and bill from michigan, fri and i went on a lovely hike, which was right in town, but after the first 50’ into the trail, you’d never know. it was quiet and beautiful. i wish i had a trail like this in detroit. palmer park and belle isle are close, but it’s a special thing to not hear city sounds for a bit. the dorothy stewart trail had some hills that got me moving, and some icy snow—i was wearing boots with barely any traction, so friday and i worked out a sled dog-type system where he would pull me up the slippery uphills with his pup momentum. we’re quite the pair.
after our hike, i stopped into the thoma art house and was metaphorically electrified by the collection. when i travel to places with muted palettes, i often feel quenched to see bold color and illumination. (this happened when i was in rome and discovered la galleria nazionale.) the collection at thoma features digital works, and i wandered around and drank them in.
one morning, we headed over glorieta pass and through las vegas (las vegas, new mexico, to be clear) to the tiny town of montezuma, to experience dwan light sanctuary. conceived by virginina dwan, friend and funder of many now-iconic land artists, with prism and astronomical art by charles ross, and architecture by laban wingert.
i didn’t know what to expect at dwan light. after the hour drive and navigating the small campus it’s situated on, i was so genuinely pleased to walk up the pine-scented path and into the subdued space. i was the only visitor in the sanctuary and pulled a padded camping chair off the stack provided and reclined on the floor to watch the prisms travel across the room.
my friend dan recently gave me the book ‘the power of moments’ and in the spirit of one of the elements in it—elevating a peak moment by boosting senses—i cued up pachabel’s canon in D quietly in the space and let my heart soar. the song is ubiquitous, sure, but i turned down the self-talk of feeling cheesy, and my memories of the song from childhood and my surroundings.
logistics
heated floors—two of my airbnbs on this trip have had heated floors. it makes for next-level yoga. it’s so choice. if you have the means…
a deeper dive—this vid is quite dated, but includes an interview with the architect of dwan light sanctuary and he talks about some of the elements of the project that i haven’t been able to hear anywhere else in my research.