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28th Oct 2005
To Phoenix
Friday, 28th October, 2005
This morning we were packing. I originally had intended to meet up with Mark back in Phoenix this morning which would have required an early start, but I was keen to swing in by Rays before we left to say thanks and farewell to him and Jeanne. Eventually got hold of Mark and re-arranged for the afternoon; his phone line had been down.
The passage to Phoenix was uneventful and we took the sliproad off through Tempe and on to Scottsdale – Nick had this bright idea to have a look at The Bridges Golf course, which it turns out is in California.
Anne had researched out a cheaper resort-type hotel and so we set off in search of it armed with the number. Up and down the road twice and then we discovered that it had changed names … and more worryingly, wasn’t as cheap! It was now called The Caleo and impossible to persuade the rest of the team that we should keep looking. So we checked in and I left everyone lounging by the pool, checking e-mail and sun bathing while I went off to meet Mark again.
The intention was that after my meeting I would meet up with them down in a local mall.
Mark had been printing up some images for an exhibition all morning and we met in his front room, a dark, wooden floored comfortable sitting room with easy sofas, rugs on the floor and the walls lined with photographs of cacti, with book cases and with about 70m or 80 of his ‘sun-sticks’. The sun-sticks are an extension of his exploration of time. They are carved and formed during each of his photographic expeditions; carved around the camp fir on consecutive nights and embellished with artefacts and items found in the course of the day. So the top of one for example might have the forked tines of a deer antler seamlessly bound to the top. Another may have a stick, or a cactus skeleton or a rock, another a cartridge case or a brightly coloured firework casing or an old washer. Its very effective. Anyway the point of the sticks is that they are integral to a game. The stick is placed in the ground near the camp and a circle drawn in the dirt around it. Each member of the group whether it be students, colleagues or his family all then place a stone on the circle where they think the shadow of the stick will fall when struck by the first rays of the rising sun. There are probably hundreds of sticks all in varying degrees of intricacy, many are on the wall, some are away at his ‘Ideas about Time’ exhibition and others are stored away.
We had a good far ranging chat and he drew my attention to a number of projects happening in Europe with which he has been peripherally involved. I stayed a couple of hours, discussed the advance copies of the new San Francisco book which had fortuitously arrived this morning and I also showed him some of my St Kilda work from the summer.
After a bit of telephone liaison, I met up with the rest at Camelback Mall at about 5. It’s a huge air conditioned place and Anne spends her time wandering around wondering why she needs to always feel cold in Arizona when outside its baking. And its true enough, its often not very comfortable sitting round for a meal for the simple reason that the air is chilled.
We dumped the spoils back in the car and made for the City Hall Steakhouse for The Last Supper.
City Hall turned out to be a SERIOUS restaurant and us scruffs were ushered into a cavernous back room along with various other groups of over four people, away from the log fire which was burning out on the patio.
Fantastic food; we just had steak main courses and then settled on coffee for afters.
Anne tried to cheer the waiter up (who was already a fairly happy guy anyway) by telling him about Dalwhinnie (which appeared on drinks list). He was quite funny about it, quipping that we probably all had to take it in turns before coming away in order that someone stayed back to man the village. As final bidding as we left, wished us well for our return to 'Dalwheeeeny'.
Back at the hotel, there was a wedding party going full tilt and after due settlement of nosh, the boys went swimming and hot tubbing. Anne and I sat beside a fir warming our toes.
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