Andrew Rogers is known for his inimitable sculptures. He is an outstanding artist. His collections are known all over the world and are exhibited in Europe, the United States of America, Australia, South East Asia and other countries. His largest land art “Rhythms of Life” is the most popular among his works. This collection consists of 48 massive stone sculptures around the world. Nearly 6,700 people participated in this project in 13 countries (Rhythms of Life, 2012).
Andrew Rogers is amazed with his great sculptures taking into account the fact that he does not have any special art education and he is a self-taught sculptor. He has decided to devote all his life to sculpture. Art unites people from different countries and different continents despite the differences in their culture, religion and traditions. More than that, Andrew Rogers has based his sculptures on the creativity of nature. The great power of nature and human skills in collaboration may create a real masterpiece as Rogers’ project “Rhythms of Life” demonstrates it.
The first piece of land art was created in Israel’s Arava Desert in 1999 (Scarlett, 2004). This work was so amazing that Rogers decided to continue his project. His third geoglyph Slice constructed in 2001 in Araba Desert is the sculpture of slice through a sea shell which is the symbol of Arava Desert as far as it is the sea bed of the ocean (10 Amazing Land art Pieces by Andrew Rogers, 2010). Andrew Rogers has traveled around the Earth since that time and created a great number of monuments that is known as “Rhythms of Life”. These sculptures express his thoughts about such eternal questions as destiny, time, spirituality, the sense of life, connection and synchronicity. All these sculptures were inspired by the land. As Rogers says: “Listen to the silence of the land” (Vaucher, 2011). The land is like the muse for Andrew Rogers.
The project “Rhythms of Life” consists of symbols specific to the places where they are constructed and they are known as geoglyphs. These symbols are created with the help of grand stones of different sizes and columns of different thicknesses and heights. For example, a Cappadocian horse in Turkey and the Chai in Israel. A Cappadocian horse constructed in 2007 amazes with its beauty and grandness. When you observe it on the land you just see the pile of stones but from the height, you will be astonished to observe a beautiful stone horse.
Each project is the result of Rogers’ collaboration with the local community. Rogers hired men and women to search for the necessary stones which has been found by him with the help of GPS and construct them according to the project created by Rogers. Local communities helped not only to construct such projects but they helped to find the symbol that was the peculiar feature of their land or that played an important role for them. The building of such symbols was blessed by the elders from the community and its ending was celebrated by all citizens. The symbols constructed by Andrew Rogers unite all the citizens not only from different countries but factually this project unites all people from eight continents.
Roger’s works of this project may be viewed in two ways. People may observe its globalist on the one hand and simplicity, on the other hand, walking through the constructions made from huge and small stones. The idea and the picture that the sculptor wants to pass to the people may be observed only from the height. People are amazed when they realize how such simple constructions create such a beautiful image that astonishes with its grandness.
Rogers used a viewing platform that helped him to control the construction of his works. His primary idea was to observe these sculptures from the flying height. For example, an amphitheater was used in Turkey to control the construction of sculptures. According to Lilly Wei, “Rogers believes that accelerating environmental changes with their potentially catastrophic consequences are much less avoidable these days and therefore much more heeded. Hopefully, he is right. Since the inception of his geoglyphs, it has been one of the artist’s purposes to point to the irreplaceable beauties of the earth, both existent and man-made. By creating contemporary megaliths as markers, Rogers insists on the need to preserve this natural and artistic heritage for ourselves and for the future” (Andrew Rogers: Time and Space, 2011). Factually, all beautiful and amazing things are created by nature and Rogers just used the imagination of nature to preserve its beauty to other generations.
Rogers’ project amazes me with its globalist. Rogers is the first sculptor who has used art to unite people around the whole Earth. “Rhythms of Life” helps me to understand that miracles are near us and even a pile of stones carelessly constructed by the nature may be observed from another point of view. Rogers’ sculptures have overturned the understanding of art. Everything that surrounds us is the art produced by the nature. Rogers just uses the beauty and creativity of nature to create such amazing sculptures.
Reference List
10 Amazing Land art Pieces by Andrew Rogers 2010, Web.
Andrew Rogers: Time and Space 2011, Web.
Rhythms of Life 2012, Web.
Scarlett, K 2004, Andrew Rogers and the Rhythm of Life, Web.
Vaucher, A 2011, Andrew Rogers: Rhythms of Life on Seven Continents, Web.