Let's Get Archaeological

Archaeology asks
Who built it?
When?
Why?
What does it teach us about them? About ourselves?
Should we preserve it?
Can we?
How?

Can you think of other questions archaeology asks, and answers?

Today is the first ever National Archaeology Day, a celebration of archaeology and the thrill of discovery. The closest event to us is in Pacific Palisades, but you can participate in an online scavenger hunt or just snoop around the website of the Archaeological Institute of America and see what you think.

If you don't think there's archaeology in Pasadena, all you have to do is get off the beaten path in the Arroyo. You'll find old stone walls, hidden stairways and even the remains of an amphitheater. Forget snooping around the virtual world. You can snoop around the real one.

Arroyo Gotham

I ran an errand in downtown Pasadena yesterday morning and parked in a lot I hadn't used before. As it was new to me, and because I need new pictures of Pasadena every day, I looked around for shots. I do it obsessively: Would that make a good photo? How would I shoot it? What angles might I try? Is the light good or should I come at a different time of day?

Et cetera, et cetera, finger down the throat, ack ack ack.

I saw a possible shot between tall buildings--a sort of Pasadena Gotham--and planned to return later. I came home and picked up Boz for a walk in Lower Arroyo Park, and took this picture of La Loma Bridge instead.

Untitled 1969-2009

"This major work, Untitled 1969/2009, takes the form of skywriting that will say, with Nauman's classic mischievous humor, 'Leave the Land Alone.'"

I read that publicity phrase before yesterday's art installation but didn't understand it. How is "leave the land alone" funny or mischievous, let alone classy?

But I went to the La Loma Bridge to watch yesterday, because I wondered if there might be something more to this piece by artist Bruce Nauman. There was and there wasn't. By the time I left, the planes had written in the sky four times, "LEAVE THE LAND ALONE." The crowd on the bridge loved it, I think.

I wasn't disappointed but I might have been, had it not been for the Armory Center for the Arts. The project was initiated by Andrew Berardini, Adjunct Assistant Curator, and organized by Director of Gallery Programs Jay Belloli and Gallery Programs Manager Sinead Finnerty-Pyne. I assume it's thanks to these people that there happened to be, on the bridge, a very pleasant woman with printed information about the artwork.

This information explained that Nauman was directing his phrase at his contemporaries in the movement known as Land Art or Earth Art, questioning the artist's intervention with landscape.

Ah.

Ah!

Aha!

Cagey, doing that from the sky.

La Loma Bridge

I took this photo at dusk, when colors are blending into gray. I fooled around with the picture. Tried making the shadows lighter, tried sharpening the edges, tried it in black and white. In the end I left it unaltered.

The La Loma Bridge spans the Arroyo Seco about a mile south of the Colorado Street Bridge. The La Loma Bridge is around 90 years old and in need of a retrofit. It's been discovered that the Eagle Rock Fault runs beneath the bridge, so that's going to have to be one damn fine retrofit.

I hope it doesn't change the look of the bridge. I don't think the look needs messing with.