Architect Experiments With Meditation Maze Piece
Interview With Artist Architect H. Weston Drumheller on Earth Art
Apr 15, 2009
When architect/ artist H. Weston Drumheller saw the wide empty field behind his mother and step-father's house, he instinctively began to think of construction possibilities. With limited resources and manpower, he designed and developed a meditation maze. Employing fellow family members and the use of simple tools, rakes, hoes, rope and an iron rod in conjunction with a creative mind, a simple, plain space became something meaningful.
Artist Interview
How did you come up with the idea for this project?
Drumheller: “I saw the big space and began thinking about what I could do with it. Recently a friend sent me a link to a website about mazes and it popped into my mind. I like the idea of making formations that can be seen from space. Maybe you could see this on Google Earth.”
How did your identity as an architect come into play?
Drumheller: “Well, I got bossy when telling my family what to do. Architecture is all about geometry. Architecture is all computerized now but the concepts are there. I began with a few simple sketches, graphic solutions for abstract math problems. The iron rod acted as the point.”
Then the rope was tied to the point and, with evenly spaced electrical tape to mark their position on the line, each family member walked in a circle and dragged tools for marking the ground, like a compass.
Later, the compass lines were deepened with the gardening tools to make them highly visible.
Enter the Maze
What is the meaning of the maze?
Drumheller: “This maze is a meditation maze, not a puzzle maze, because of the single line. It also fills the empty space in the field.”
Meditation mazes are used for reflection or for meditating on a problem. The shape of the maze is usually circular and represents the Earth. The path loops back and forth causing the walker to shift mental awareness back and forth from left brain to right brain and creating a receptive state of consciousness.
What did you learn from creating this piece?
Drumheller: “If I did it over again I would design it a little differently so the parts we dug would be the boundaries of the path instead of the path itself. It was an interesting family project. We learned about each other.”
The Artist
This was not Drumheller's first work of earth art. He also constructed a life size sandcastle with a moat and a lookout point one could enter. Prone to creative projects with whatever objects are available, he is in the habit of making art; he is an artist. Besides architecture and earth art, Drumheller also creates small cast bronze sculpture, mostly functional, and shamanistic apparel made from animal parts.He currently resides in Anderson Valley, neighboring Napa Valley nearby, in California with his wife and child.
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