1990 - Angelo Ciotti
My Wife Totally Wrecking It - 2006
Teri when we were dating. I took her to an art opening at Angelo Ciotti's home, AKA: Habitat for a Human Family. She can still rock that dress too!
In 1990 I apprenticed under the artist Angelo Ciotti. One of the biggest art projects he was doing at the time was reshaping an old strip-mine site. One spring day Steven & took a drive out to see how it was coming along. Instead of just filling the gaping pit with fill, the earth was shaped into two spirals, one a small hill and the other a small hollow. Someday I'll go back and try to capture it as it was really beautiful. My photos from that period do not do it justice.
Pittsburgh, An Industrial Garden - 1990
Three Rivers Arts Festival - Sculpture at the Point
Pittsburgh, An Industrial Garden - 1990
Three Rivers Arts Festival - Sculpture at the Point
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
The heavy equipment operator whose name I cannot recall in front of the giant bulldozer used to reshape the landfill.
From Angelo Ciotti's website: Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania 1987-1996 Twin Stupas is part of a 22 acre earthwork, conceived and executed as a collaboration between Angelo Ciotti and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts. The purpose of the earthwork is to reclaim a hazardous abandoned surface mine near Chicora,in Butler County, which is located forty six miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The Twin Stupas are two mounds, each 300 ft. in diameter: One "dead," inverted, and 45 ft. deep, lined with rocks and boulders; the other "living," 60 ft high, and covered with various species of grasses. Both are connected by a spiral that rises from the bottom of the "dead" mound to the top of the "living" mound. The projects is essentially functional, with a two fold purpose: To help bring wildlife habitats back into the scarred area, and provide food resources for a variety of species, through the selection of suitable kinds of vegetation to give food and cover for deer, birds, etc. The planting scheme is to be constructed in order to derive the maximum benefit for the wildlife” To provide a sculptural earthwork as a powerful aesthetic entity by utilizing the form and color of the developing vegetation elements. People make "pilgrimage" visits to the site, which is intended to emphasize the precarious nature of the balance between man's use and his abuse of the environment. It is thus desirable that the whole project be undertaken and supported, as widely as possible, as a great group collaboration. The goal of this collaboration is to deepen the communities’ understanding of the arts in land art, on site events, music, dance, performing arts, etc. I have observed the process in the creating and reclaiming of surface mines by independent mining companies and Soil Conservation Service of Butler County for six summers. Two reclamation projects have been completed, with the planting of 8,000 trees and the Geibel Project, a series of lectures on mine reclamation; Brandywine Workshop at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia; the University of Florence, Italy; and the National Coal Board, Mansfield, England."
In 1990 I apprenticed under the artist Angelo Ciotti. One of the biggest art projects he was doing at the time was reshaping an old strip-mine site. One spring day Steven & took a drive out to see how it was coming along. Instead of just filling the gaping pit with fill, the earth was shaped into two spirals, one a small hill and the other a small hollow. Someday I'll go back and try to capture it as it was really beautiful. My photos from that period do not do it justice.
Pittsburgh, An Industrial Garden - 1990
Three Rivers Arts Festival - Sculpture at the Point
Pittsburgh, An Industrial Garden - 1990
Three Rivers Arts Festival - Sculpture at the Point
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Angelo Ciotti & artist Michael Pestel walking the grounds at the Twin Stupas, Chicora, PA.
Michael Pestel, Angelo Ciotti, and the heavy equipment operator whose name I cannot recall.
From Angelo Ciotti's website: Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania 1987-1996 Twin Stupas is part of a 22 acre earthwork, conceived and executed as a collaboration between Angelo Ciotti and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts. The purpose of the earthwork is to reclaim a hazardous abandoned surface mine near Chicora,in Butler County, which is located forty six miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The Twin Stupas are two mounds, each 300 ft. in diameter: One "dead," inverted, and 45 ft. deep, lined with rocks and boulders; the other "living," 60 ft high, and covered with various species of grasses. Both are connected by a spiral that rises from the bottom of the "dead" mound to the top of the "living" mound. The projects is essentially functional, with a two fold purpose: To help bring wildlife habitats back into the scarred area, and provide food resources for a variety of species, through the selection of suitable kinds of vegetation to give food and cover for deer, birds, etc. The planting scheme is to be constructed in order to derive the maximum benefit for the wildlife” To provide a sculptural earthwork as a powerful aesthetic entity by utilizing the form and color of the developing vegetation elements. People make "pilgrimage" visits to the site, which is intended to emphasize the precarious nature of the balance between man's use and his abuse of the environment. It is thus desirable that the whole project be undertaken and supported, as widely as possible, as a great group collaboration. The goal of this collaboration is to deepen the communities’ understanding of the arts in land art, on site events, music, dance, performing arts, etc. I have observed the process in the creating and reclaiming of surface mines by independent mining companies and Soil Conservation Service of Butler County for six summers. Two reclamation projects have been completed, with the planting of 8,000 trees and the Geibel Project, a series of lectures on mine reclamation; Brandywine Workshop at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia; the University of Florence, Italy; and the National Coal Board, Mansfield, England."
The two most influential professors I had when I attended the Art Institute in the late 80s where Flavia & Angelo. I took this photo when we all were together at an opening in his installation, "Habitat for a Human Family" just north of Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh, An Industrial Garden - 1990
Three Rivers Arts Festival - Sculpture at the Point
Pittsburgh, An Industrial Garden - 1990
Three Rivers Arts Festival - Sculpture at the Point
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
Wilkes-Barre, PA along the Susquehanna River front.
From Angelo Ciotti's website: Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania 1987-1996 Twin Stupas is part of a 22 acre earthwork, conceived and executed as a collaboration between Angelo Ciotti and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts. The purpose of the earthwork is to reclaim a hazardous abandoned surface mine near Chicora,in Butler County, which is located forty six miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The Twin Stupas are two mounds, each 300 ft. in diameter: One "dead," inverted, and 45 ft. deep, lined with rocks and boulders; the other "living," 60 ft high, and covered with various species of grasses. Both are connected by a spiral that rises from the bottom of the "dead" mound to the top of the "living" mound. The projects is essentially functional, with a two fold purpose: To help bring wildlife habitats back into the scarred area, and provide food resources for a variety of species, through the selection of suitable kinds of vegetation to give food and cover for deer, birds, etc. The planting scheme is to be constructed in order to derive the maximum benefit for the wildlife” To provide a sculptural earthwork as a powerful aesthetic entity by utilizing the form and color of the developing vegetation elements. People make "pilgrimage" visits to the site, which is intended to emphasize the precarious nature of the balance between man's use and his abuse of the environment. It is thus desirable that the whole project be undertaken and supported, as widely as possible, as a great group collaboration. The goal of this collaboration is to deepen the communities’ understanding of the arts in land art, on site events, music, dance, performing arts, etc. I have observed the process in the creating and reclaiming of surface mines by independent mining companies and Soil Conservation Service of Butler County for six summers. Two reclamation projects have been completed, with the planting of 8,000 trees and the Geibel Project, a series of lectures on mine reclamation; Brandywine Workshop at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia; the University of Florence, Italy; and the National Coal Board, Mansfield, England."
From Angelo Ciotti's website: Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania 1987-1996 Twin Stupas is part of a 22 acre earthwork, conceived and executed as a collaboration between Angelo Ciotti and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts. The purpose of the earthwork is to reclaim a hazardous abandoned surface mine near Chicora,in Butler County, which is located forty six miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The Twin Stupas are two mounds, each 300 ft. in diameter: One "dead," inverted, and 45 ft. deep, lined with rocks and boulders; the other "living," 60 ft high, and covered with various species of grasses. Both are connected by a spiral that rises from the bottom of the "dead" mound to the top of the "living" mound. The projects is essentially functional, with a two fold purpose: To help bring wildlife habitats back into the scarred area, and provide food resources for a variety of species, through the selection of suitable kinds of vegetation to give food and cover for deer, birds, etc. The planting scheme is to be constructed in order to derive the maximum benefit for the wildlife” To provide a sculptural earthwork as a powerful aesthetic entity by utilizing the form and color of the developing vegetation elements. People make "pilgrimage" visits to the site, which is intended to emphasize the precarious nature of the balance between man's use and his abuse of the environment. It is thus desirable that the whole project be undertaken and supported, as widely as possible, as a great group collaboration. The goal of this collaboration is to deepen the communities’ understanding of the arts in land art, on site events, music, dance, performing arts, etc. I have observed the process in the creating and reclaiming of surface mines by independent mining companies and Soil Conservation Service of Butler County for six summers. Two reclamation projects have been completed, with the planting of 8,000 trees and the Geibel Project, a series of lectures on mine reclamation; Brandywine Workshop at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia; the University of Florence, Italy; and the National Coal Board, Mansfield, England."
Bonfire Party @ The Twin Stupas - 1991
A photo of me from an unknown source taken at Angelo Ciotti's bonfire party at the Twin Stupas in Chicora, PA.
