STEELROOTS

I had a rare off day on Thursday and made the most of it. The weather in Chicago was once again fabulous beyond words. Moderate temperature, low humidity, and blue skies in every direction. I set out for an urban hike before 8:00 AM.  I expected that I would probably log about ten miles. I was enjoying myself so much, that I didn't return home until I had hiked twenty miles. One of my favorite pictures that I took during the day was me standing under STEELROOTS. This massive sculpture guards the Peggy Notebaert Museum at the corner of Cannon Drive and Fullerton Avenue.

• Artwork Created : 2007
• Artwork Installed: 2009
• Artist : Steve Tobin

from the Chicago Park District website...

Steelroots is one of several tree root sculptures produced by Pennsylvania artist Steve Tobin (b. 1957). After receiving a degree in theoretical mathematics from Tulane University in 1979, Tobin decided to become an artist. He studied art at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, and the New York Experimental Glass Workshop in Brooklyn. He went on to receive numerous fellowships and artist-in-residencies, and in 1989 he was the first-ever foreign artist invited to build his own studio in Murano, Italy, the town outside of Venice renowned for its glassmaking.

Tobin soon began exploring other materials in his artworks, including clay, bronze, and steel. In 1994, he established his own foundry. By the late 1990s, Tobin’s work began to focus on nature—specifically the fascinating and beautiful forms that are created through natural processes. In 2004, Tobin received international attention when he installed his bronze sculpture Trinity Root near Ground Zero in New York City. The work is cast from the stump and roots of a historic sycamore tree that stood in front of St. Paul’s Chapel directly across the street from the World Trade Center. The tree protected the church from destruction during the 9/11 attacks. “The function for me of roots is to show the power of the unseen,” the artist told the New York Times. “And on 9/11, we found out about the power of all our unseen connections, the things that nurture us that are hidden below the surface.”

By the time Tobin completed Trinity Root, he had begun developing a broader series of sculptures exploring the theme of tree roots. In an artistic statement, he explained, “I am interested in making pieces that function in any time period: prehistory, present, or the future, working with nature-related images. For example, I have turned a root system into bronze, so that you can see it on the surface of the earth. In a sense it allows you to travel into the shadows, into the underground.” He created a group of sculptures called Walking Roots, and a larger series known as Steelroots. These sculptures have been exhibited in many different cities including Brooklyn, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Chicago in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

The artist provided this Steelroots sculpture on long-term loan to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in 2009. At that time, he was working on a large retrospective exhibition of Steelroots at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, and he wanted to have a visible connection with that exhibition in Chicago. The exhibit, which opened in 2010, includes a total of fourteen tree root sculptures of various finishes, sizes, and configurations. Some are as large as forty feet tall. The Steelroots sculpture near the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum has an earthy brown finish and is composed of recycled steel.

According to the MapMyWalk application that I use to trace my hikes, my  caloric expenditure for this twenty mile urban hike was 3500. So did I lose a pound today? I don't know. But I do know this. I definitely did not gain any weight on Thursday.  This twenty mile urban hike amuses me as I was never more than three miles from home - lots of zigging and zagging!

I am a quirky guy. When I hike, I almost always try to never cross my path where I have been before. This often becomes much more difficult when I am hiking real trails at real parks, but it is something that I have no trouble accomplishing when I am urban hiking.

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...just hanging around at North Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, October 19, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Grits	300	66	5	6	930	3
	300	66	5	6	930	3
L U N C H
Oki Sushi - Tuna Roll Maki w/Avocado	350	45	8	28	0	0
Vita Coco - 100% Pure Coconut Water 330ml	120	30	0	0	74	30
Whole Foods - Cherries Milk Chocolate, 9 pcs	180	25	10	2	10	21
	650	100	18	30	84	51
D I N N E R
Weight Watcher's - Cabbage Soup	200	20	0	5	157	11
Baked Homeade Mastaccioli	400	46	10	0	873	33
	600	66	10	5	1,030	44
S N A C K S
Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites	200	21	13	2	25	18
	200	21	13	2	25	18
Totals	1,750	253	46	43	2,069	116
Your Daily Goal	5,155	644	172	258	2,300	193
Remaining	3,405	391	126	215	231	77
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 3,225 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 193.4 lbs in 5 weeks