As the Crow Flies

I just got home from working at the Super Bowl 

and a late pizza party with my co-workers,

 so I'll return to another of the art installations at TURF.

Sanctuary (Apocalyptic Considerations),

by Jamie Pawlus,  was designed around the sort 
of strategies the artist might undertake 

were he aware of exactly when the

world might end. The display took 

a humorous turn in deciphering

the sort of life he might like to live,

knowing the expected date of his demise.

I need to make my way toward my own sanctuary.

We began gathering at three this afternoon

for a job of work we would perform at about

eight o'clock. With all of our preparation, the job went

smoothly and seemed to be over more quickly 

than expected. Everyone seemed happy with

the show, so the effort was worth it.

And the New York Giants defeated the 

evil New England Patriots, 21-17.

\\

Just Another *Super* Day

One section of the more than a gazillion miles of electronic cable installed
in Lucas Oil Stadium to telecast the Super Bowl. This is just inside the SW tunnel.

All this week about five hundred other people and myself 

have been rehearsing our slick moves as stagehands

for Madonna's half-time show during the 2012 Super Bowl.

Of course, it goes without saying I could not have afforded  the price

of a ticket for the game, so decided early on I'd volunteer where

I could in order to take part in the festivities.

And so, I'm a member of the crew.

Just inside the Stadium at the Gate Three entrance,
where each day we checked in for rehearsal.

We were assigned our tasks by the way the numbers were drawn;

some people were assigned to various segments of the stage, while like me, others ended up pulling the huge electrical cables used to power

the stage and it's special effects. The first night it took us about 

a half hour to get the thing together, learning where the segments went

and where the power cords needed to be placed. Over the following

evenings, we brought our times down to the point we are 

waiting what seems forever before the show begins. 

One of the many thousands of visitors to Indianapolis. At
least, I hope he's visiting. Obviously, a championship
football game is just another reason for men to
don stupid hats.

Knowing that we have learned to do our tasks smoothly 

and safely makes me feel proud. I think, once you all view 

the half-time show, either in the stadium or on TV,

you will feel the same; Madonna is using a lot of local

people in her act and they are doing a marvelous job.

Traces

I enjoyed the subtly of the gray tree against the concrete

retaining wall, which in turn held the patterns of the

plywood that formed it.

Even as ivy has earlier been torn from the wall, 

its successors trace a similar path.

On Our TURF

Visitors to TURF view one of the art installations presented by IDADA
in conjunction with activities related to the 2012 NFL Super Bowl.
This exhibit is Culture Is A Gun, presented byArtur Silva. 

The Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association, 

IDADA, is a non-profit organization made up of studio artists,

art galleries and art related businesses located within

a twenty-block square area of downtown Indianapolis.

The organization is intended to develop and promote the pool 

of world-class artists who reside and work in Central Indiana.

Videos showing a waterfall make up the installation by
Greg Hull. Titled  Mediated Terrain, the artist intends
to inform the viewer about our relationship and perceptions
of our environment.

To that end, IDADA is presenting TURF in the weeks

leading up to the Super Bowl, an exhibition of installation, video

and experimental artwork by twenty-three artists, most of whom

reside in Indianapolis and the surrounding counties. 

Arthur Liou's Insatiable is a video presentation made up of
footage filmed at an open night market. Composited into micro and
macro images, the resulting image takes the form of  a massive creature,
moving and undulating through space.

The TURF Art Pavilion is located in Old City Hall. 

A beautiful example of Neo-Classical architecture, the building

is, in its way, as much a part of the exhibition as the art

it is housing until the Super Bowl; visitors gaze at the beautiful

stained glass dome in the rotunda and admire the wonderful

examples of scagliola that cover most of the pillars

in the building's lobby (When you visit, tap the pillars to see

which ones are marble, wood or metal).

Shown here is a segment of Better or Worse? by C. Thomas Lewis.
The artist uses the optometrists' standard question to explore
the nature of visual perception.

All of the exhibits represent the individual viewpoints 

of the artists, all of them interesting and well-done.

Visitors' reactions have been positive with 

many people visiting more than once.

The solar-powered cockroach shown above is a detail
from Waiting for the Electrician (or Someone Like Him)
by Lori Miles.

Fanfare for Mayor Charles Bookwalter, is artist
Kipp Normand's tribute to the man who was the driving
force behind the development and construction of
the Old City Hall

Taking A Break

All the activity in the downtown area presents few

opportunities for the workers to find a moment 

to take a deep breaths, to defuse any tension, and 

to gather their thoughts before they return 

to their jobs of lifting, carrying, 

and smiling hospitably to everyone. 

While the men sitting on the back of their

 truck await directions for delivery, they took a few 

moments to check their messages, 

while the men below enjoy a chat with a hot 

dog vendor during their smoke break.

Super Traffic

Just outside the mile square area, the main shopping 

and activity areas of downtown Indianapolis, 

one can find all day parking for the comparatively

 modest fee of $4.00, while the same sum 

will only get you three hours at one 

of the parking garages closer in.

Traffic in the downtown area was congested 

earlier this week, primarily due to detours 

for construction activities for the Super Bowl

venues south of Washington Street between

Capitol and Pennsylvania Streets.

The crowds last night and today at Super Bowl Village

were happy and congenial. People of all ages

came down to participate in the activities

and to see the sights.

Back at the Old City Hall

After a long period hiding behind clouds, the sun finally came 

out this afternoon, bringing more people into downtown

for the official opening of the Super Bowl activities. There was

also a steady stream of visitors to see the TURF exhibition,

twenty-three art installations by Indiana artists, all of them

interesting and well-done.

The people in the above photo were, like just about everyone

who's visited, impressed with the building which is

 playing host for the occasion. They are attempting to take

pictures of the stained glass that tops the rotunda of

the old City Hall's lobby, shown below.

The building, designed by the architectural firm, Rubush & Hunter, 

was completed in 1910 and consolidated all the city services

in one location. It's classical facade is of Indiana limestone

 with the entire structure meant to symbolize the stability 

and achievements of the city. 

Many of the visitors had visited the building before, 

during at least one of the building's earlier incarnations, 

when it was still the City Hall, then the home 

of the Indiana State Museum until 2002, 

and most recently, the temporary home of the 

Marion County Library during its remodeling and 

expansion from 2004 to 2007. 

Leanin' Trees

It's the middle of winter, the days are gray and misty.

but at least the temperatures are fairly mild.

Activities surrounding the city's presentation of the 

46th Annual NFL Super Bowl are gathering momentum.

This afternoon, I took part in my first stint as

volunteer for TURF, an exhibition organized by the

Indianapolis Downtown Art Dealers Association

of installations by twenty-three artists.

The exhibition is presented in the Old City Hall, 

the beauty of which is obvious even though

it is suffering from disuse. The artwork is 

excellent, as well.

Though the day was damp and gray, I did see these beautiful trees.

Bending and leaning towards the light, they always provide

graceful accents to surroundings that often seem

mundane or dreary.

My City of Slush and Mud

A few days ago, we had a bit of snow on the ground 

which rapidly turned to slush and mud. We've been especially

anxious about the weather here because we'll be hosting 

the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Sunday, February 5th.

It rained last night, leaving the ground cold and muddy.

Tonight,  over five hundred other people and myself 

took part in our first rehearsal for the half time show.

I could tell you all about it except, as the saying goes,

I'd have to kill you afterwards.

It's going to be cool. I promise. Just watch.

As I told someone earlier tonight, if I were offered an 

all expenses paid trip to Disney World, I'd have

to turn it down for lack of interest --  unless that trip 

was to visit behind the scenes to see how it works.

That's how I feel about this show. 

How's it made? How does it work? I wanna see!

EXTRA: Aliens in Speedway!

 At 6PM I looked outside my window
 to see an alien spacecraft just above

the treeline. For the past several days, the 

temperatures have been in the mid-teens, we've had

a bit of snow on top of ice. Today the weather's

been warmer, the snow softening to melt

into slush. The air has not seemed so much like

fog as it has a cold cloud, overhanging the city.

 While the mist and fog are so thick

as to conceal the stanchion

supporting the lights, that does not mean

that aliens are not expected soon in Indy:

the evil New England Patriots have just 
defeated the Baltimore Ravens in 
a close game, 23-20, to establish 
one half of the Super Bowl match-up, 
to be held here on Sunday, February 5th.

Snowy Walk

The weather forecasters have warned us. We know. 

Based on past experience we know that our winter won't begin 

until a cold breeze passes through to pick up information

it can take back to its cohorts back in Siberia --

"Hey, Indy has some big plans to lay on a 

giant party. Let's go mess with 'em." 

Those big plans generally involve our high school

basketball tournaments, a state-wide happening that

climaxes each year in Indianapolis with the best four

teams meeting to decide the year's champion.

Some years it's the NCAA tournament in March.

This year it's the Super Bowl and, just as 

the city is beginning to set up the tents and exhibits,

the temperatures have dropped thirty degrees

and given us this brush of snow to practice with.

I walked over to the store around noon for some groceries, 

and took these pictures on the way. I like the play of positive and

negative space between the leaves and snowy ground in the

first picture, but wish I'd thought to pick out the dried oak leaf

before I took the picture of the sprig of ivy growing

at the base of the tree, as it interferes with the arc of the vine.

When I returned an hour later, the ivy had already 

succumbed to the weight of the snow. 

Ooooh ... It's a Man In A Pit!

I really enjoy taking pictures of men at work, 

men who know how to do the tasks that keep a home, 

a building, a city functioning. So I was delighted to look

into a manhole at the intersection of Meridian and Ohio Streets

 to find an actual, real MAN IN A PIT! And in harness, too!

He's an electrician, so I assume he can change

 a light bulb and understands circuit breakers.

The downside to his job, other than the claustrophobic

pit and occasional rat, is the fact that he's standing in water. 
Cold Water. Eeeuuw!

There's hustle and bustle all around town, 

both the usual street work as well as preparations

for the 2012 Super Bowl. This crew was at work last week

polishing the marble and terrazzo floors, and shining 
the brass railings in the Indiana War Memorial.  

And there's a lot of it to be made spiffy.