On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
dmkingto
Warning! Scenes of full-frontal nudity, violence, and fierceness below the fold.
When I first started working on the Stanford Campus in the spring of 2017, I was commuting from San Francisco. If I finished work during the normal evening rush hour(s), I would take 30-45 minute walks around campus to let traffic die down a little. It’s a beautiful campus, but I tended to keep wandering around the same areas – the main quad, etc. One day I took off in another direction as dusk was falling. After 5 minutes or so, I came across a small wooded patch. Although it was getting dark pretty rapidly, I figured it was still just light enough to wander through the woods. So in I went and came face to face with the Gates of Hell! Well, the Papua New Guinea interpretation of Rodin’s famous sculpture (there’s one of those in the Rodin sculpture garden in another part of the campus). I had no idea this sculpture garden even existed until I stumbled into it. But try to imagine coming across the sculpture below in a gloomy forest and you might understand why I was startled. There are lights in the garden, but they either weren’t working or hadn’t come on yet.
The genesis of the sculpture garden was in 1989 when PNG artists Naui Saunambui and Yati Latai proposed the creation of an art project in the US to Stanford anthropology student Jim Mason. (Mason was doing fieldwork on the Sepik River.) It came to fruition in 1994 when ten artists from the Sepik River region of PNG were invited over for a 4 month residency to create the garden.
The Gates of Hell / Opawe and Namawe Simon Gambol Marmos and Jo Mare Wakundi
This is what I’m calling the front of the Gates of Hell sculpture. I don’t know if the sculpture has an official front, but this is what I came across first. It’s carved out of pumice, which apparently was a completely new medium for the artists.
The other side of the GoH sculpture. Here’s a quote from a Stanford publication:
The Gates of Hell / Opawe and Namawe, carved in pumice stone, references the story of a flood that destroyed the ancestral world after a man tricks his older brother into killing his wife. The younger brother’s family is depicted on one side of the stone sculpture, and the twisted bodies of the village people drowning in the flood are on the other.
Keeping with the Rodin theme, he’s a wooden interpretation of The Thinker (Yerakdu) also by Simon Gambol Marmos and Jo Mare Wakundi. I love this guy. He’s just emerged from a hole into the world and is thinking about how to create fellow humans out of clay.
I believe this sculpture was dedicated to Betty Cracker. Although I’m pretty sure it’s a crocodile and not an alligator. In the background you can see some of the carved poles.
“Hello, do you have any skulls for me?” This guy is Yingatabandu by Jo Mare Wakundi.
My opening line is probably culturally insensitive, but he looks friendly to me – aside from the skulls. Actually I guess it’s more of a contemplative look.
Well, I just googled him, and apparently he’s an evil river spirit according to latmul legend. I guess the skulls were the give away. And I also just discovered that the stones are from the Mono Lake area.
Close up of some of the detail on one of the carved poles. There’s a lot going on there. There are 40 carved posts in the garden.
Two of my favorite guys.
There are also a number of painted poles in the garden. Traditionally, these would have been structural supports for walls and roofs in Kwoma spirit houses.
I did mention this series was NSFW, didn’t I? These are Ancestors of the Nowil Tek Clan.
And a final look at my favorite guy, with the Ancestors of the Nowil Tek Clan and the Gates of Hell in the background.
War for Ukraine Day 1,232: The Cost
sab
These are amazing.
Baud
How’d you know I’d be commenting?
Very cool photos.
JWR
In the pic you labeled “Two of my favorite guys”, the blueish “guy” on the right reminds me of one of the creatures in the Maurice Sendak children’s book, “Where The Wild Things Are”. Very nice photos!
Craig
Damn. Cool. I’ll definitely check that out next time I’m down there. Thank you!
sab
@JWR: Most of Sendak’s critters were creepy but I loved them all. Little Bear was my favorite.
raven
I wonder if my dad saw any of them during WW2. I recently learned that New Guinea is the second largest island in the world.
stinger
I actually think “Hello, do you have any skulls for me?” is perfect. His expression might be that of the humble local rag-picker.
Ten artists, four months, and one of the media new to them — amazing.
Bulgakov
That is a marvelous space! How lucky you were to have stumbled across it.
Gloria DryGarden
Thrillingly beautiful. Echoes of nw tribal North American totem poles. The thinker only not by Rodin. Fascinating eyes. These sculptures evoke time travel and echoes of deep richness. The spirals around the eyes. The feeling of gargoyles on French cathedrals…
so very cool. Oh, and re nsfw, I’ll just say, um, size matters. Goldilocks might have something to say…
JeanneT
That is an fantastic sculpture grove! My local sculpture garden/botanical park has nothing to compare. I envy those who got to see these artists at work.
randy khan
Fantastic!
Gloria DryGarden
Iirc, Papua and New Guinea encompass 10 language families. Huge numbers of languages. I’d like to see a map of the island superimposed over a more familiar place, to recognize how huge it is.
meanwhile, this art speaks in a visual language that is so clear.
Denali5
Wow, a depiction of life in the United States currently.
eclare
Wow! Fascinating.
Betty
Fantastic garden and wonderful background descriptions.
WaterGirl
Love the blue guy admiring the thinker. Is he thinking new friend, or possibly mmm dinner?
Old School
Those are cool.
Hooray for NSFW Fridays!
RaflW
Now I’m wondering if Gustav Vigeland had somehow seen that pumice carving? Or there’s something ineffable that artists in different eras tap into? Vigeland’s monolith (also possibly NSFW) came front of mind on seeing this post. Not to diminish the artistry of the original that is presented here. Each is striking and fascinating in their own right.
BigJimSlade
“Two of my favorite guys.” – great shot and what a neat place!
pieceofpeace
What a treasure trove! And your angles for these pictures is spot-on.
Jacel
That garden is a wonderful place. Here’s a video giving a senses of what the overall space is link.
ronno2018
totally cool, i need to visit San Francisco and tour SV – thanks for the post
MichiganFTW! (formerly Temp Decloaked Lurker)
Those are great and I love that they brought over the artists to make them here. Plus, they had the challenge of a new medium. It worked out.