Larry Graeber
Don’t Ask Why
installation of photographs and sculptural objects
@
cactus bra SPACE
106 Blue Star # C.
San Antonio, TX 78204
210-226-6688      
www.cactusbraspace.com
June 4 - June 18, 2010
Opening Friday, June 4 6 to 9 PM
June 3rd reception from 6 to 8 PM 

To view show other than opening or reception please contact 

Larry Graeber, T 210-821-5089    C 210-834-0588

 An installation of work stemming from an experience with a small forest between Columbus and Sealy Texas.

 Over the years traveling back and forth to Houston on I-10 between Columbus and Sealy, I like many others I suspect, have observed this outcropping of pine trees, a small forest that appears as an anomaly on the horizon. Recently I’ve been making the trip more frequently and finally decided to go over and look closer.  On the north side of I-10 off Pyka Rd behind the Sealy Truck Stop / Restaurant and BAE Systems plant, maybe a mile and a half or so I approached this perishing environment. An oddly mixed, used plot of land with dying pine trees and cows being fed from unrolled bales of hay and grain or oats from buckets.

 The day happened to be overcast, wind blowing and an occasional shower only adding to the drama and mystery of this peculiar plot that appeared to be a microcosm of a diminishing world or a strange place where unusual events may have occurred. The wind in the trees, the speculation of the cattle, the forest dying, even the oddly located microwave tower affirmed for me that this place was truly an anomaly.

 The central image of this series of nine photographs, epitomizes my bewilderment at this odd place.  An image of decaying fallen trees, piled upon one another in and amongst the forest, evocative of forgotten stewardship, ruin, desolation and loneliness.  The other images reinforce the peculiarity of this small eco-enclave, with remote shots of it in the distance and its inhabitants; a small herd of cattle.

   In this show of photographs and installation items, I’m looking to elicit an experience of associated assumptions. I am expecting the objects and images to perform together like characters in a play, informing and rewarding each other into a supposition.  Is this an ecological disgrace, a ceremonial place, a point of contact, or does it matter? If we mix these elements with the assumption that we are creatures of the moment, informed by memory and feelings from the past, will it re-contextualize our present?