Chalk and Other Ephemeral Art

 

I was walking downtown last week when I spied the ghost image of a piece of chalk art from a late summer display. I had forgotten that I took some pictures of this year’s chalk art fest, perhaps because most of the work wasn’t as striking as that of previous years.

 

Below are some shots I took, but first let’s consider ephemeral art. It has been in the news the past few years because of a stunt the street artist Banksy pulled. He produced a work titled “Girl with a Balloon” that fetched a million pounds sterling at a London auction in 2016. It had a shredder built into the frame that sliced the art work to ribbons. Amazingly, the buyer did not demand a refund. Now, we know why. It went back on the auction block in 2021 and Sotheby’s got a stunning $25.4 million for it, proving that being rich doesn’t necessarily come with ten cents’ worth of intelligence.

 

On another level, though, it’s not like Banksy invented ephemeral art, that which is made for its own sake and not built to last. Environmental artists like the amazing Andy Goldsworthy use organic materials such as vines, leaves, and other vegetation that have a short lifespan. Or perhaps you’ve been to the beach during one of those jaw-dropping sand sculpting contests; or just ogled the sand castles and forts built by kids.

 

There are other forms of ephemeral art, including carving fruits and vegetables. October, of course, is the month for creative pumpkin carving–just like early fall agricultural fairs where people get creative in making figures out of butter. Or the winter in which chainsaws will fashion magic from blocks of ice.

 

You name it and someone has made art from it. Corn stalk mazes have become a thing and I’ve also seen people coax patterns and figures from mowing their grass or raking their leaves. Some barbers do the same with hair. Flower arranging is ephemeral, and even shorter-lived materials such as ice cream and chocolate are creatively arranged.

 

Perhaps the two most creative of all have spiritual roots. Karesansui is associated with Japanese Zen Buddhism. It involves raking small pebbles into patterns and has to be tended constantly as weather alters it, but the raking itself is a form of meditation. So too is the making of mandala art, the use of colored sand among Hindus and Buddhists. These elaborate geometric figures are meant to be destroyed shortly after they are completed.

 

I’m rather glad I forgot about my snapshots until now. So maybe this year’s chalk art was not as uniformly remarkable as that of past years, but does it matter? It was never made to last. Both Ralph Waldo Emerson or TS Eliot have been credited with variants of the quote, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey that counts.” It’s likely neither of them came up with it; it’s an ancient practice. Not all art has to hang on walls.