The art of the found

“Sailor's Delight” (found painted wood), by Mike Wright, in her show “WOOD Works,’’ at the Cotuit (on Cape Cod) Center for the Arts, through Oct. 29.

— Photo courtesy Cotuit Center for the Arts

The exhibit displays Mike Wright’s work as a salvager and artist.

The gallery says: “Her whimsical wooden sculptures are assembled from found materials and given new life through clever arrangements. Wright sees the potential that each piece of discarded wood has to become something new, while still retaining its original, unique qualities.’’

Her artist statement says:

“I think of myself as a salvager, in that fascinating Cape Cod ‘Mooncusser’ tradition. My process starts with searching Provincetown beaches and dumpsters for old previously painted wood. The point of using found material is that, as debris, it seems unpromising but that lack of promise is also its appeal. The peeling paint, the color scrubbed by salt waves, sand or human use allows us to recognize the influence of its past. I like the moment when I place the first pieces of old wood, seeing all that potential, seeing relationships of form begin to take shape. I have learned to listen to this found wood and allow for any chance opportunity to emerge, achieving the sculpture through modifying form with minimal carpentry—cutting, joining, sandwiching. The wood had an experience as boat, cabinet or floorboard and it remembers its past. I interfere with what it was made to be, to make it something else: a sculpture that suggests the endless process of transformation of the things of human industry.’’

Don't burn it for electricity!

In Beartown State Forest, in The Berkshires

The Sandwich Range, in the White Mountain National Forest

From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

I like to sit by a crackling log fire as much as the next person. Indeed, we recently bought a backyard fire pit as a way to expand our winter living space  in these times of pandemic claustrophobia. Even a lot of people burning logs in fire pits or fireplaces produce relatively minor pollution. It’s a compact, sensual, aesthetic experience.

Of course, with most fireplaces, having a fire loses your house more warmth than it gains, as it draws heat from the house up the chimney. Still, it’s very pleasant, if you can sit close enough to it.

In any event, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is wrong to let wood-burning electric-power plants that now don’t meet state environmental standards get subsidies from rate payers. Yes, New England has lots of wood, but burning it in large quantities to generate electricity would mean much higher carbon emissions in the region, worsening global warning.  Cutting down a lot more trees would  obviously reduce forests’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, as well as harm  wildlife and increase erosion by water.

Such clean-energy sources as solar, wind and geothermal are becoming cheaper and more efficient by the year. They’re the way to go. Burning wood to generate electricity is a terrible idea.

By the way, I remember  that back in the days before Jiffy Pop and microwave stoves, how much fun it was to pop corn by putting the seeds in a screened frame over the fire and constantly shaking and flipping it. It took close attention but the popcorn you got seemed tastier than what you get now, or maybe that’s just misleading nostalgia. Of course, we soaked the product in butter and sprinkled on lots of salt: a slow-motion heart-disease  developer.

xxx

Another sign that Massachusetts will continue to be a very rich state: Despite the pandemic and the national recession, it caused state tax revenues rose 8.8 percent in December from the year-earlier, pre-COVID month!