In 1987 I visited Oxbow for the first time amidst a short but uninterrupted group of months, maybe 7-9 months without drinking. There was always connecting tissue between living as an artist and the means I found to explore ideas however mind altering. There was some need in protecting myself from the unknown forces upon which no reasonable act worked. I attempted everything at getting sober. I stood unsettled in 1987 and against a Michigan tree looking at the bend in the lagoon that seemed to soothe my soul. A moment of knowing, that my life as an artist was not tethered to anything other than my will, imagination, and insistence upon simply taking my own advice.
In 2017, I returned warmed by reconnecting to a space that settled some matters of deep stirring. I walked to that place where the tree-lined up that spot perfectly for a clear view of the bend in the lagoon. This was a mystical spot I needed to mark. It was a place that helped without any real effort in 1987 other than time and distance. I built and installed a simple swing from my youth that summer. The steel and wood drawing board seat, steel chain hung, flying machines that worked to quiet my thoughts of childhood. The swing was an interrupter of grand proportions. It is there now for another 30 years, for those who wish to sit as they cast their eyes upon the bend in the lagoon and make their wish.
The cart was built by my brother Mike and I from scrap wood in our garage at 4044 W. Waveland with stroller and wagon wheels and a Pepsi box seat. It was the first object we made together these film stills represent a time of childhood where wonder abides and I came to know how I would fundamentally work. circa 1968.
