Letters From Readers: Eclipse Magic
4/15/24 | Clay magically appears on stage; sun disappears from the sky!
Happy World Art Day! And happy birthday to Leonardo Da Vinci. In the USA at least, today is Tax Day as well (not sure if that calls for a happy salutation or not!) Speaking of taxes, for the first time I’m having someone do my taxes for me. Maybe in a future letter I’ll share my very-not-expert artist tax prep tips.
Moving on to the somewhat-weekly Letters From Readers, last week there was no column; we were busy in Texas, far from home, to observe the amazing total solar eclipse which I wrote about in Eclipse Day In Lampasas, Texas. I got some nice reader responses to that; but first, an old friend remembers an unusual, somewhat magical artistic presentation in which I played a role.
Samina in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania writes:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading that post. It's sort of funny how memory works. I can now sort of recreate the scene in my head where that happened, with all the characters that made up that heady, intense, five-week experience. The debate of what is art is classic. It seems that the practice of sculpture ushers this sort of deep thinking and performance art, especially, from what you've shared not only with this PGSA experience, but at Rhode Island School of Design, too.
Thanks, Samina! I’m glad we were able to share that time together. Who would have guessed that a five-week art program for teens in Erie, Pennsylvania, would be so impactful all these years later? ZK
PGSA was Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts, for the uninitiated. Readers can find my article below, about how we teens made thousands of pounds of boxed clay magically appear and then disappear on stage, as we debated the meaning of art over the loudspeaker system. Very artsy.
Benji in Biel-Benken, Switzerland writes:
It looks like you had a great time there [in Texas]! I was following the spectacle on a livestream; it looked so unreal! What a sighting!
Benji, yes, the eclipse was incredible. Maybe the most bizarre thing was being able to see the moon actually sliding over the sun in the last few moments, leading to darkness, cold air to replace the Texas heat, and a surprise wind that came with it. The people aspect was great, too: Who I traveled with, who I reunited with, and strangers who became part of the story along the way. ZK
Patrick in Dublin, Ireland writes:
Great post and photos, Z!
Thanks, P! I enjoyed snapping photos on the journey, but wanted to make sure I experienced it firsthand, too, not just through a camera. I gave myself some guidelines to help: plain compositions (this part of Texas— flat, wide, and open— lent itself well to that), 3:4 vertical aspect ratio, shot with my phone without overthinking. My DSLR photos, which I haven’t published yet, were more of a backup. And I made sure on the actual eclipse day to spend lots of time looking up (with specialized eye protection of course). Eclipses coming your way in Europe very soon. I hope you get to see that. ZK
Martha in Hamburg, Pennsylvania writes:
Awesome! Yours is a much better story than mine. We were going to just watch it from home. Figuring 92% would be good enough. But after listening to a scientist nicknamed Mr. Eclipse on the New York Times Daily show, we were convinced that no, 92% is not at all good enough. So, we basically hopped in the car, looked up the closest state park to within totality in Northern Pennsylvania. And went! We got there in time, along with a whole bunch of other good people. Maurice K. Goddard State Park. A really nice little state park with a beautiful little lake. And of course, hiking trails!
We are extremely glad we did it, even though we didn't get home till midnight. One of the very best things was the feeling of community of it all. Especially when everyone spontaneously broke into applause at the moment the moon completely covered the Sun.
Martha, I love that story. There’s a lot of overlap with mine. Although we planned the travel months in advance, there were four days to fill with spontaneity. Even the place we finally settled on for a viewing spot was not planned, like yours. As I mentioned in my response to Benji, the community aspect was so cool, a collection of new and old friends and total strangers gathered at a church we’d never seen before. Strangely, one of the women we met there at the church in Texas had previously eaten at a diner in Burbank called Frank’s, directly across from my friend Donna’s flower shop where I was a delivery person (Donna initiated this trip and was there with the sun scope). Maybe we’d all met before! ZK
The original version of this newsletter mistakenly had April 8 as the date at the top. Tax day is definitely April 15! As is Leonardo Da Vinci's birthday and World Art Day.