The Same River Twice

Wood, paper, acrylic, ink
2 x 388 x 49 in
5 x 985.5 x 125 cm
2013

Richard Humann • The Same River Twice • Wood, paper, acrylic, ink • 2 x 388 x 49 in • 2013 — Richard Humann • *The Same River Twice* • Wood, paper, acrylic, ink • 2 x 388 x 49 in • 2013

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
— Heraclitus of Ephesus (530 – 470 BC)

Richard Humann grew up in the small town of Stony Point, 40 miles north of New York City. Although it is geographically close, it was truly worlds away. From his first trip to New York City as a child, he knew he wanted to live there. He watched movies and television shows that took place in or featured New York City, and they always felt full of life, and the energy of the city that was so close, yet so far away. It was also at that time that he discovered books, music, art and a multitude of cultural influences that helped expand his mind and his horizon. He first read Vonnegut, then quickly moved on to Steinbeck and Hemingway. Dostoevsky, Gogol and Turgenev soon followed. He quickly read through many of the classics, as well as new literature of the time. He eventually moved to Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 1985 after graduating college and never looked back… until recently, that is.

Over the last several years the Hudson Valley has become a hotbed of artistic and cultural institutions, big and small. There are large, funded museums, such as DIA Beacon and Storm King Art Center, but more importantly there are many small, medium and large entrepreneurial spaces that are opening up at every turn. This is happening throughout the entire Hudson Valley region where he now has a weekend home, dividing his time between Brooklyn and Woodstock.

For the sculptural installation piece, The Same River Twice, a map of the Hudson River, from its head, north of Albany, to its eventual flowing out past the island of Manhattan, was transposed onto a 32 foot-long, four foot-wide pedestal that rested on the floor of the gallery. Writings were gathered that inspired the artist from his youth; The Brothers Karamazov, The Sirens of Titan, Sweet Thursday, Gulliver’s Travels, Janson’s History of Art, as well as poems by E.E. Cummings, and countless other works, including movie screenplays and song lyrics. The texts were then cut up, word-by-word, and fill the routed-out map of the river with those dissected writings.

Photo credits: J.B. Grant / Richard Humann Studio

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