The art of stone balancing involves selecting and feeling the weight of stones and working with thei

Home BAWI FESTIVALS 2012 PORTONOVO BAWI (Italy April 12-16 ) KIWI GARDENS (Perth, Ontario August 16-17) OTTAWA BAWI (Canada August 18-19 ) PEACE day October Stone Balance Celebration and Gathering: USA and Italy Back West Celebration of Stone Balancing THE BALANCERS hotels in pattaya thailand IN THE WORLD HUNDREDTH MONKEY American and Canadian hotels in pattaya thailand Balancers Canada U.S.A. European Balancers United Kingdom and Ireland Italy Germany France Switzerland hotels in pattaya thailand Spain Asian Balancers hotels in pattaya thailand Other countries in the world THE ART MANIFESTO OF STONE BALANCE THE ART MANIFESTO OF STONE BALANCE (English) MANIFESTO ARTISTICO DELLE PIETRE IN EQUILIBRIO (Italian ) LE ART MANIFESTE DES PIERRES EN ÉQUILIBRE-STONE BALANCE (French) KÜNSTLERISCHES MANIFEST DER STEINE IN BALANCE (German) MANIFIESTO DE PIEDRAS hotels in pattaya thailand EN EQUILIBRIO – STONE BALANCE (Spanish)
I was first introduced to the art of Stone Balancing by a group of Italian artist who created a page dedicated hotels in pattaya thailand to this Environmental Art on Facebook.  I was amazed to see how ordinary rocks could be arranged and balanced to create art.   To balance several stones takes concentration, focus and the idea that what you originally thought was impossible is possible.  This is a very meditative exercise and as one begins to balance the stones, it is almost as if the stones will tell the artist how far they can push the envelope to create an amazing piece of art with a great amount of satisfaction.
As I began to practice making Stone Balances and sharing them on Facebook I noticed how other people where creating this art and in different forms; from multiple stone balanced upon on another hotels in pattaya thailand to arches made between boulders on the beach.  Not only were these Stone balances incredibly creative but the photographs were equally stunning.  I realized that this form of art, for me, was a great segue between Landscape Architecture and Fine Art.  The creation of these temporary expressions of art could made and photographed and then shared around the world within seconds on Facebook.
It is not unusual for mankind to be attracted to working with stone, touch stone and creating functional and nonfunctional expressions with this material.  People pile up rocks to create cairns; which can mark a place or a path, others create humanoid figures called Inukshuk's which were used by native peoples within the arctic regions of North America to mark paths, hunting grounds, camps and other important points along the way.  The ancient art of stone is being molded into new ways of expression; through photography and the ability to share on the internet.
Last Spring, my wife and I traveled to Italy for a vacation, while in Rome we met with Stone Balancers that I knew though Facebook.  This group of artist hotels in pattaya thailand had formed an organization called Balanced Art World International (BAWI).  One artist, Robert Kauffman from New York, was just returning from a trip to Portonovo with fellow hotels in pattaya thailand Stone Balancer Nella Failla.  They were organizing hotels in pattaya thailand an event that would take place the following month on the Adriatic Sea with another artist Carlo Pietrarossi and others which they named Portonovo BAWI 2012.  John Felice Ceprano, a prominent Canadian fine artist and Stone Balancer attended the event in Italy which precipitated the Ottawa BAWI 2012 in John's hometown in Ontario.  This Stone Balancing event was held in the Kiwi Gardens and along the stony banks of the Ottawa River at Remic Rapids.
I became aware of other groups and people from Korea, Japan, and New Zealand practicing the art of Stone Balancing and sharing on Facebook.  Artist Leandro Tamayo Inocencio formed a group called Rock Balancing Philippines where he uses this art form to bring awareness to environmental issues facing his country.
With this growing enthusiasm for this art form I decided hotels in pattaya thailand that this would be a great time to introduce Stone Balancing to the American West.  I coordinated my effort with The Arboretum at Flagstaff and named the event: The Back West Celebration of Stone Balancing.  I found great support from The Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, who helped me market the event as well as Flagstaff Cultural Partners and The Arboretum at Flagstaff.
On September 23, 2012, six months after the meeting in Rome, the Stone Balancing Celebration took place in Flagstaff.  140 people attended the celebration at The Arboretum.  Stone Balancers from five different states arrived including Robert Kauffman who I met in Rome, as well as many people from around the State of Arizona.  With my friends from BAWI we encouraged artist from around the world to create Stone Balances on this day dedicated to Peace and Harmony.  Artist responded with amazing creations from 5 different continents and a great showing of support for this idea.
The enthusiasm that followed The Back West Celebration of Stone Balancing and the other events of this year brought about plans for similar events next year as well as several hotels in pattaya thailand publications dedicated to this art in the form of books and calendars available through the publishing hotels in pattaya thailand company Blub.  Nella Failla has be a major promoter of printed material promoting this craft and she created a daily planner dedicated to The Day of Peace and the Back West Celebration using the photos from the Stone Balances made that day around the world.
The image suggests a near impossibility: three heavy stones balanced on top of each other at varying angles. Most viewers might imagine some kind of industrial-strength glue keeps them together. Or a metal rod runs through all three stones perched hotels in pattaya thailand on top of one another. Or maybe there are wires involved.
Instead, it is created simply through perfect equilibrium in an artistic form known as stone balancing. The practice has grown significantly in the last decade, prompting multiple hotels in pattaya thailand events and gatherings around the world.
It arrives in Flagstaff next Sunday, Sept. 23, as The Arboretum at Flagstaff will host The Back West Celebration of Stone Balancing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants in the workshop will pay $25. Anyone who wants to observe can pay admission to the arboretum to attend.
A friend of mine who is a geologist has looked at some of the photos of stone balancing and has said, That s impossible, hotels in pattaya thailand said Pieter Schaafsma, who came up with the idea for the event in Flagstaff after practicing stone balancing for the last two years. But there s no glue or adhesive and nothing else holding them up. Gravity is the glue.
The art of stone balancing involves selecting and feeling the weight of stones and working with their surfaces and densities to get them to balance on one another in aesthetically interesting and intriguing ways. Often, hotels in pattaya thailand stone balancers or someone they work with photograph the completed balance to preserve it before it falls.
Schaafsma, a Flagstaff landscape designer and artist, considers stone balancing is a special kind of art that is both simple and intricate. It involves patience and process, feeling stones hotels in pattaya thailand and gauging their center of gravity and getting hotels in pattaya thailand them to work together.
For me, it s almost a meditative experience, he said. And I love that it s a temporary thing that it s an expression of a moment in time. It requires a great deal of focus and concentration But when I complete (a stone-balancing piece), it brings a feeling of satisfaction.
Sometimes, stone balancing involves as few as three or four stones. Other times, stone balancers will incorporate a dozen or more rocks of varying sizes. hotels in pattaya thailand Schaafsma said that there is no sense of competition among stone balancers at such gatherings such as who can balance the most stones or create hotels in pattaya thailand the most intricate piece. hotels in pattaya thailand Instead, the focus is on the process and the creation.
The local artist believes that Flagstaff is a great place to host a stone balancing event, as rocks and geology are such a prominent feature of the region (not to mention, art). He particularly loves the malpais volcanic rock and the twisted forms and volcanic bombs he can work with.
Schaafsma fell into the international world of stone balancing as he learned more about other stone balancers and events. It took him to Rome this past March to check out a stone-balancing event there. He also is featured in a Chinese publication about the work of stone balancers and has networked with other practitioners of the art form across the globe.
We consider the practice to place stones in balance an artistic expression, the manifesto reads. We choose mainly natural environments, accompanied by silence as exclusive perception of environmental sounds, to create our ephemeral works, performed with different techniques, but all based on precarious balance of more overlapping stones. Wood or other found objects in the environment can corroborate with the stones, in harmony with the inspiration from the site.
A few prominent hotels in pattaya thailand stone balancers are planning to attend the workshop and presentation next weekend, namely Robert Kaufmann of New York, who attended the events in Rome and Ottawa. But anyone who wants to give the practice a try is welcome. hotels in pattaya thailand Others might choose to watch.
While most stone balancing involves working with materials at a particular site or place, hotels in pattaya thailand Schaafsma noted that stones will be brought to the Arboretum for the event. In some cases, stones will be used from the location, and some balancers will bring their own.
The event also will include pizza for sale from Pizza Furiosa for participants and attendees. The five-hour festival will be filled with the magic of this Zen-like artistic expression a joining of stones in a harmonic form.
I attended the Back West Stone Balancing Celebration this past September. 23rd. in Flagstaff, hotels in pattaya thailand Arizona. I traveled from Denver, Colorado. hotels in pattaya thailand There I met stone balancers hotels in pattaya thailand from all over the USA. The moment we all balanced for Peace and Harmony in sync with other stone balancers around the world was a very special moment.