On Saturday February 8th at around 7:30pm, we arrived in Yellow Springs, OH (Interesting note- this is the long time home of the very awesome Dave Chappell).
In many instances, we get to a city knowing the exact site we want to work with. Sometimes, however, we give ourselves a few options and then decide once we are in the city. In the case of Yellow Springs, we had two options. Our first option was the Glen Helen Nature Preserve- many people had asked us to light this area and we were quite fond of it as well (lots of great walks were had here). Our second option was not so notable. It was an old, abandoned covered bridge tucked away in the woods. We decided to first scope out this bridge.
The bridge seemed like the perfect subject for a light installation, except for one thing… the weird late 90s SUV parked on the side of the road. We thought at first that the vehicle was deserted- then- we saw a lighter spark up. Someone was sitting stealthy in the vehicle. With great reluctance, we got out of our van, stared right at the man sitting in the sketchy SUV, and took the short hike in to inspect the bridge. It was pitch black, so we each brought a Light Drop to illuminate the way. We kept thinking, what is this guy doing here?? We arrived to find the bridge riddled with graffiti. The light shining on the graffiti admittedly was pretty rad. The sign on the bridge read 'Old Cemetery Road.' We shined our lights back towards the road to see if the SUV was still there. It was. What was this guy doing here?
You know that part in a horror film when a group of people make a really bad decision and end up getting hacked up by a serial killer and audience all gasps and proclaims, "why didn't they get out of there?" Well… we didn't want to be THOSE people! So… we left and headed back towards the Glen Helen Nature Preserve. We made it out alive!
We were very familiar with the preserve and thought that a simple nature scene was in order.
We got right to work in a creep-free environment. The preserve is nestled right in the heart of Yellow Springs across the road from Antioch College. Ultimately, we knew this was a better site- not only because it was safe, but also because it was truly more pubic. Thus, we got the opportunity to commune and meet some wonderful new people. One lovely lady was particularly enthusiastic about our work.
Nikki Saadat made her way from across the street and greeted us. We talked for a while and promised that we would mention our conversation and her name. She told us that she was a student at Antioch studying political economy. She also worked for Glen Helen. When asked what her thoughts were on the project, Nikki exclaimed, "I have worked for the Glen Helen Nature Preserve for the last three years. This is unreal… awesome… something I have never seen before!"