Axial Stones - An Art of Precarious Balance
By George Quasha
Foreword by Carter Ratcliff
The precise date of George Quasha's "ah-ha" moment when first he encountered the art of balancing rocks is not recorded in his handsome and elegant new book. But the lifetime of artistic and spiritual preparation for recognizing what he was seeing when it happened is eloquently documented here. And his appreciation for -- and deep understanding of -- the Metapoetic implications of the seemingly simple act of placing one stone upon another in an implausible yet necessary way sings out on every page.
A book to savour, a book to make you say, "I wish I'd done that!" or even "I wish I could do that!" and then realize that not only can you, but that perhaps George and many other balance artists are meaning to do it for you through their hands acting as yours. It's a matter of practice and discipline within collaboration, like the Tantric and Buddhist traditions he has studied.
Together, he earnestly urges, we all can find the Axial - in art, in language, in being and not being. In creating art and in experiencing it.
A "map of stones" begins the book, showing 39 mostly paired examples of the "unions" he has made with stones brought from many parts of the world by himself and by others. He then tells us, stone by stone, what it is we are seeing and what they are doing. And why.
