The Sun Tunnels: The Sun Tunnels consist of four large concrete pipes arranged in a slanted cross formation. Each Sun Tunnel is positioned so that they frame the sun rise and set on the summer and winter solstices. They also have a number of holes bored into them through which the star constellations can be viewed. They were installed in 1976 by Nancy Holt who was married to Robert Smithson (creator of the Spiral Jetty).
The dirt roads to the Sun Tunnels were quite long but easier going than the dirt roads to the Spiral Jetty. En route we played Neil young whilst driving in the hot sun with the windows wound down periodically passing vultures perched on top of solitary telegraph poles. At one point on the journey we were held up for about 15 minutes by a pacific union freight train with the classic railroad crossing roadsign with it's flashing lights and bells ringing.
On reaching the Sun Tunnels we were again impressed and our expectations were exceeded by the reality. It was great to wander around them seeing how they constantly changed as we moved - how their reltionship with the desert and the mountain landscape changed as it was framed through each tunnel. I walked round taking photos of the Sun Tunnels and then we made and drank coffee in one of the tunnels in which we found a number of used bullet cartridges!?
This is Simon's account: "Set in a huge vastness the Sun Tunnels seemed to act as a 'key' to the landscape, framing it but also somehow intensifying the experience of it. At one I understood what was at stake in the move 'beyond' the galleries - not just an art world gambit but the only appropriate response to the American landscape. As I walked around the tunnels they would 'lock' into different combinations - framing different vistas. The matter (concrete) of the Sun Tunnels was also compelling - a certain 'matter of factness', a simplicity that belied the complexity of these solar instruments. This art was minimilalist - but of a psychedelic character - transporting me to other temporalities. The Sun Tunnels operate on planetary time - they make one aware of being on a planet. They have alo become vital monuments - 'used' by solstice travellers. No meanings here - just instruments to be used".
"The Sun Tunnels are more effective than all of NASA's technologies put together."
Mount Rainer National Park: Our last stop on route back to Vancouver where we flew back to the UK from.
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