With ice all but gone on Lake Monona, there will be no more chances for the ephemeral-art-minded to work their magic atop its frozen surface. This past winter was a fairly busy one on the lake, with the usual snow creatures accompanied by breeching orcas off the Marquette neighborhood shore and a bird-seed geoglyph off Monona Terrace.
This latter work, created earlier in winter when conditions were still cold and the ice thick, is compared to a mandala by "Alternative Curatorial Practice," the group that commissioned it. ACP explains: "We gave them a template to work with that was 60 feet wide in diameter circle, divided into 4 quadrants, and gave them bird seed and food coloring to work with, and here is what they did."
Two short videos documenting the creation of the ice circle follow below, with the first clip showing the early stages of the process.
The second clip documents later stages of the bird-seed wheel's creation. Alternative Curatorial Practice describes itself as "a group of curators, documenting our alternative art installations, and curating shenanigans!" It is also the title of an interdisciplinary arts class the UW School of Education is currently offering over the spring semester.
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