Alerted by the Somerville Arts Council newsletter, I found my way to “Annex,” Christopher Frost’s newly completed installation on the Somerville Community Path bike trail near Willow Avenue. Here are a few views from that visit.
From the Somerville site, I followed the bike path through Cambridge into Arlington to Spy Pond, where Frost’s Colony installation is due to end September 1, after enlivening the area for nearly four seasons.
Since posting about this last fall*, I have visited several times. I had intended to follow up with additional posts, noting how changes in foliage, weather, and light enriched the range of revelations. I’ll use this post for a few photos from January and March.
A fascinating feature of Colony has been the colorful creatures, characters, and tokens that people have placed on decks, steps, and other perches of the composite architecture. Some seemed to have stayed from the start, while others left or traded places with newcomers. I never witnessed anyone adding or moving inhabitants of Colony, but every visit revealed obvious or subtle shifts among them. My curiosity about the comings and goings drew me to return, with rewarding results, delightful discoveries, and evermore intimate involvement.
Annex in Somerville is smaller and less elaborate than Colony. Also, maybe deliberately it is too high for people to reach without considerable climbing.
This fits with Christopher Frost’s statement in a recent interview from Somerville Arts Council newsletter: “Initially, I was thinking of the birds. How amazing would it be to give them not just a simple birdhouse, but a space of this magnitude? What would it be like to create a place where birds can congregate together? I really hope that the birds notice and enjoy this home.” (quote from SAC news email, 8/8/19)
August 2019 offers the brief window of opportunity to bike back and forth between both tree dwellings. I will be eager to see how birds respond to Annex. Always I will hope to see more of any structures created by Christopher Frost, all with their own distinct unpredictable qualities!
Christopher Frost Sculpture artist’s website
For more background and links about Colony, created by Christopher and his daughter Basil Frost, click here.
*NEIGHBORS, NATURE AND TIME PLAY GREAT PARTS IN ART BY CHRISTOPHER FROST: COLONY AND MUCH MORE
For information about the bike paths from Somerville to Arlington, click on Mass Central Rail Trail and Minuteman Bike Path
Photo of Annex on SAC Facebook page
“SAC grant winner Christopher Frost recently completed his community benefit project — and we love it! Like all fellowship winners, Christopher conducted a small art project as a way to give back to the community before collecting his grant money.” (quote from SAC news email, 8/8/19)
Art Outdoors 
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[…] Walking from Willow Ave toward Grove Street (near Davis Square), watch for hints of nesting in Christopher Frost’ s “Annex” and note the wide-spread wings of the newly landed Raven in “a Free Range Sculpture […]
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[…] CHRISTOPHER FROST’S “ANNEX” IN SOMERVILLE BUILDS BEAUTIFULLY ON HIS “COLONY” IN ARLIN… […]
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[…] CHRISTOPHER FROST’S “ANNEX” IN SOMERVILLE BUILDS BEAUTIFULLY ON HIS “COLONY” IN ARLIN… […]
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