Michael Grab is an artist specializing in

rock balancing Rock balancing (also stone balancing, or stacking) is a form of recreation or artistic expression in which Rock (geology), rocks are piled in balanced stacks, often in a precarious manner. Conservationists and park services have expressed con ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, and

videography Videography involves capturing moving images on electronic media (such as: videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage), and can include streaming media. It encompasses both video production and post-production methods. Historic ...

. He was born in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, Canada and currently based in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, United States, and has worked professionally since 2008, creating precarious, short-lived works of art, usually in natural and often remote settings. Grab began practicing his craft in Boulder Creek and he still considers it his home base, though he has given live performances of rock balancing in Switzerland, Sweden, Scotland and Germany and he has balanced rocks in Croatia, Italy, Belgium, and France. Much of his work is installed in remote natural settings, such as near river or ocean shorelines, and in other natural rocky settings. He has balanced rocks on the shores of

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

. Some work has also been installed in urban settings, such as on street sidewalks. He has installed at least one short-lived underwater rock balance sculpture.https://www.youtube
Gravity Glue 2015; May 18, 2017 (Underwater Rock balance at 3:55). Grab often disassembles his work when leaving the site to "close the cycle" and also to adhere to the "

leave no trace Leave No Trace, sometimes written as LNT, is a set of ethics promoting conservation of the outdoors. Originating in the mid-20th century, the concept started as a movement in the United States in response to ecological damage caused by wilderne ...

" principle of trail ethics. Or, he knocks them down, sometimes videographing them as they collapse. Grab has a degree in sociology which he earned in 2007 from the University of Colorado. Grab considers meditation a part of the practice of successfully balancing rocks. Grab explains that the focus involved in finding points of balance for rocks causes a shutting down of the "excessive mind chatter that usually goes on in people’s heads". His work has been popularized by his own photography of the finished, balanced rocks, which he posts to his website. Grab is not overly concerned with the impermanence of his work. He considers his work to have "quite a bit of Zen or Buddhist overtones." Beyond the balancing involved, Grab has aesthetic criteria as well. He is critical of some of his own output. He may explain that a piece feels too clumsy. Or he may explain that the "balance points" are too large or the components themselves lack inherent interest. He explains that a recent theme is "to make it look as impossible as possible." The time involved varies considerably from piece to piece, with some formations taking up to five hours to complete. The work of Michael Grab has been associated with the

land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mo ...

movement although that

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...

was most dynamic in the 1960s.

References

External links

Gravity Glue
(Michael Grab's official website) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Artists from Edmonton Canadian installation artists {{Canada-artist-stub

References

Further reading

External links