Diary of a Rock Balancer ::


Stone Balance Art (Arch) created and photographed by Michael Grab — 06 February 2016 — Kaplankaya, Turkey ::


“The person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play. Their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body. Their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which. They simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace in whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them, they are always doing both.”


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i couldn’t fully explain the process to you. other than: all flows, even when i sit still and do ‘nothing’. . . everything affects everything else, each breath, each necessary adaptation to new circumstances in new places. . . and somehow, via intuition, it always lends (im)Perfection to the Now moment.

today high winds guided me to this spot, which i never would have chosen otherwise. but it turned out to be the key to the entire universe for today, which often seems the case. I’m not sure how or why, but this image is infinitely satisfying somewhere between its curves, asymmetry, and color.

these particular rocks were not ideal for vertical balancing, due to their softness, but their relatively high coefficient of friction and lower density made them ideal for larger freehand arches. also, in this case, the muted warmth of sunset and earth perfectly amplified the cooler blues of clouds and water.

 

102 Responses
  1. Si te gusta tu trabajo, estarás contento, y no te parecerá aburrido, e irás cada día a él con entusiasmo y creatividad para mejorarlo. Si es ese tu caso, Felicidades…….

  2. “The person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play.”………..M.G.
    The Man knows the words, knows the feeling and the rocks…………

  3. Have you ever been to Britain? I’d love to see how your balancings would turn out near to some of our very ancient standing stones. Would it give you a different ‘feel’ to work in proximity to them?

  4. “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road” – Stephen Hawking. Another beautiful piece of play.

  5. Always great work! You and ‘Johnny-clasper stonemason/sculptor’ need to collaborate! I fools him as well and he work is great as well. He does it for people yards, I bet if you two got together only greatness could come form it. that’s his page name so check him out. He hails from theUK. :)

  6. With the universe as your guide, I wouldn’t be surprised if your arch were pointing to something significent in the sky (maybe more apparent at night).

    1. Smart thinking! Especially with how the planets have been aligning in the sky. Hope he is able to check it out at night! Gravity Glue will you be around tk investigate?

    2. yes it may be possible to shoot this against the night sky, but will wait for a warmer night… in which case hope to pull off a decent star-lapse… actually.. looking in this direction should have the long center stone close to parallel with the milky way as it combs across the sky a few hours before sunrise… according to the read out in some clever apps.. :))

    3. upon further research… the milky way should line up *PERFECTLY* with the center stone between 12:30am and 1:00am Local time in Turkey, within about 3 degrees on the horizon…so theoretically, shooting this same frame at that time should yield the milky way extending precisely from the tips of the center stone… pretty fucking cool.. now to make it happen, which will be a whole other logistical challenge, including the unlikely but potential wild bore in the area at night.. fingers crossed. :))

    4. Beautiful. Thanks for opening my eyes to your work/play/life. I cant wait to see if you capture the night shot. And thank you for showing the beauty of my parents homeland, Turkey :)

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