Looking in the Mirror: Old Rocks / New Art

by Rainey Knudson April 30, 2014

Art imitates nature. – Aristotle

(l) Jurassic period petrified pine cone from La Matilde Formation, Argentina (r) Our Lady of Guadalupe, c. 1900

(l) Petrified pine cone, Jurassic period, Argentina
(r) Our Lady of Guadalupe (date unknown)

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that nothing in the universe is original. Great art is not original. You couldn’t come up with something unrecognizable even if you tried, no matter what Barnett Newman says, because we are nature. We are starstuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself. And so it is unsurprising that art always conjures something that already exists in the universe. Great art always contains an “Aha!” of recognition. It speaks to anyone.

This last point was reinforced to me over the course of many visits to the Houston Museum of Natural Science during the past couple of years. These images are pretty self-explanatory. The final one is a still from a video by the Korean artist Kim Beom, in which he reads poetry to a rock.

We are all of us, everything, in this together.

 

(l) Cerussite, from the Otjikoto Region of Namibia (r) Pennzoil Place

(l) Cerussite, from the Otjikoto Region of Namibia
(r) Pennzoil Place, downtown Houston, designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, 1975

 

 

(r) Elbaite & Quartz, Tourmaline Queen Mine, San Diego County, CA (r) Georges Braque, “Still Life with Mandola and Metronome, 1909

(l) Elbaite & Quartz, Tourmaline Queen Mine, San Diego County, CA
(r) Georges Braque, Still Life with Mandola and Metronome, 1909

 

 

(l) Cavansite, Wagholi Quarry, Maharashtra, India (r) installation view of Yves Klein sponge sculptures

(l) Cavansite, Wagholi Quarry, Maharashtra, India
(r) Yves Klein sponge sculptures

 

 

(l) Quartz v. Selenite, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil (l) Donald Judd, Untitled (detail), 1974

(l) Quartz v. Selenite, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil
(r) Donald Judd, Untitled (detail), 1974

 

 

(l) Fossilized coral from the Devonian period, Switzerland (r) Tony Cragg, In Minds, 2001- 2002

(l) Fossilized coral from the Devonian period, Switzerland
(r) Tony Cragg, In Minds, 2001- 2002

 

 

(l) Azurite & Malachite, Otjikoto Region, Namibia (r) Robert Morris

(l) Azurite & Malachite, Otjikoto Region, Namibia
(r) Robert Morris installation view at the Whitney Museum
[Photo: Rudy Burckhardt © 2013 Rudy Burckhardt Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York]

 

(l) Petrified Wood, Late Triassic, Apache County, Arizona (r) Damien Hirst, Untitled Spin Painting, 2001

(l) Petrified Wood, Late Triassic period, Apache County, Arizona
(r) Damien Hirst, Untitled Spin Painting, 2001

 

 

(l) Stromatolite, Proterozoic, Alice Springs, Australia (r) Jannis Kounellis installation at the Teatro Margherita, 2010

(l) Stromatolite, Proterozoic period, Alice Springs, Australia
(r) Jannis Kounellis installation at the Teatro Margherita, 2010

 

 

(l) Ammonite, Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous period, Volga River, Russia (r) Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970

(l) Ammonite, Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous period, Volga River, Russia
(r) Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970

 

 

Amazonite-Cezanne-Mont-Sainte-Victoire

(l) Microcline v. Amazonite & Albite, Ten-Percenter Mine, Colorado
(r) Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1902-04

 

 

(l) Smithsonite, Kelly Mine, New Mexico (r) Ted Kincaid, LA Sky 803, 2009, Digitally-Constructed Photograph on Canvas

(l) Smithsonite, Kelly Mine, New Mexico
(r) Ted Kincaid, LA Sky 803, 2009

 

 

(l) Pyrite, La Rioja region, Spain (r) Tony Smith, Die, 1958

(l) Pyrite, Navajún, Spain
(r) Tony Smith, Die, 1962

 

 

(l) Mesolite, Maharashtra, India (r) Tara Donovan, Untitled , 2012

(l) Mesolite, Maharashtra, India
(r) Tara Donovan, Untitled, 2012

 

 

(l) Brittle Stars, Jurassic, Dorset County, England (r) James Surls, Rolling Flower, 2009

(l) Brittle Stars, Jurassic period, Dorset County, England
(r) James Surls, Tree and Three Flowers (detail), 2013

 

 

 

(l) Glyptodon, Pleistocene period (r) Martin Puryear, Deadeye, 2002

(l) Glyptodon, Pleistocene period
(r) Martin Puryear, Deadeye, 2002

 

 

(l) Stilbite, Maharashtra, India (r) Jay DeFeo, The Rose, 1958–66

(l) Stilbite, Maharashtra, India
(r) Jay DeFeo, The Rose, 1958–66

 

 

(l) Echinoid, Middle Jurassic, Gloucestershire, England (r) Chakaia Booker, Acid Rain, 2001

(l) Echinoid, Middle Jurassic period, Gloucestershire, England
(r) Chakaia Booker, Acid Rain (detail), 2001

 

 

(l) Rhodochrosite (polished), Capillitas Mine, Argentina (r) Louise Bourgeois, CINQUE (detail), 2005

(l) Rhodochrosite (polished), Capillitas Mine, Argentina
(r) Louise Bourgeois, CINQUE (detail), 2005

 

Kim Beom, A Rock That Learned the Poetry of Jung Jiyong, 2010, single-channel video

Kim Beom, still from A Rock That Learned the Poetry of Jung Jiyong, 2010, single-channel video

 

 

All minerals and fossils pictured are in the permanent collection of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. You may click on the images to view them larger.

With thanks to Aristotle, Carl Sagan, Jackson Pollock, Antonio Gaudi, Nikola Tesla, and Jane Austen.


Rainey Knudson is the founder and publisher of Glasstire.

 

3 comments

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3 comments

Colette Copeland May 2, 2014 - 10:32

Love this!

Reply
Kathleen R. H. Gegan May 17, 2014 - 10:54

Wonderful!
Please ad me to your mailing list.
Thank you!

Reply
Rainey Knudson February 27, 2020 - 16:02 Reply

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