The Location
The location had to be perfect. Not too close to a major sculpture.
Close enough to be noticed. Somewhere in keeping with the concept
presented of 2001: A Space Odyssey of teaching new life forms(an
appreciation for sculpture hah!)
We wanted anyone to be able to see it from the road. But it had to
be well inside the grounds, so that it looked like it definitely
belonged. Centered up between two or three sculptures on the grounds
would be ideal.
It didn't take us too long to find a nearly perfect spot to place the
Monolith It would be in a depression off the man made lake. Close to
a nearly dry stream from the runoff creek. Walking around the lake
you would see it, quietly sitting in the hollow. Walking from For Lady
Day to the lake you would see it standing tall. You would also be
able to see it from the road bordering the east side of the of the
park though nearly lost in the immensity of the property.
We marked the spot and came back the next evening with a post hole
auger. We measured off the distance between the centers of the posts,
or "legs", that would hold the Monolith up and in place and dug the
holes. In hindsight we went far deeper than we needed to. Better
than having them too shallow. The Monolith had to sit flat on it's
bottom edge. Even for two guys in the twenties and in pretty good
shape, it was slow going with the auger. The dry clay beneath the soil
was hard to work. We didn't finish up until just after sunset. (Of
course that included a bit of time for documenting the work.)
Now we just needed a nice night and a driver.
Saturday, the 21st was going to be a nice night. And a full moon too...