There's a New Boulder in Town
Maura Doyle
October 6, 2004 – April 15, 2005
Maura Doyle, There's a New Boulder in Town, 2004; Boulder: granite, 290 x 170 x 160 cm, 20,200 lb; over 1000 million years old
Artist Statement
Erratic blocks, boulders, in Geol.: stray masses of rock, foreign to the surrounding strata, that have been transported from their original site, apparently by glacial action
- Oxford English Dictionary
For several years I have noticed and taken photographs of boulders and rock pieces. The collection includes photographs of doorstops, foundations, walking paths, riverbed boulders, petroglyphs, headstones, The Great Wall of China, fountains, paperweights, garden accents, special rocks, jungle rocks, glacial droppings, natural benches, park monuments, back-alley boulders, rock piles, wishing wells, random rocks and sculptures. These rocks, like all rocks, cannot move from one place to the next on their own schedule, but rather rely on outside forces such as great glaciers, tidal waves or backhoes.
In conjunction with the erratic boulder currently located in the Toronto Sculpture Garden, there is a 28-page guidebook (includes map) that gives background information of twenty boulders in downtown Toronto. These wandering rocks are not local to the city but have arrived at various points during the last 12,000 years.
