The Glory of Regional Silurian Dolostone, Part 43: Digital Art of an Uncommon Order | First Presbyterian Church (1887 with various later additions), Lake Forest, Illinois, USA

It’s a fundamental fact that I was facing the facade.

For a discussion of the history of this church and why it directly benefited from the Great Chicago Fire, see Part 39 of this series.

To make this composition scintillatingly impactful I had to run down a top-end professional hand model whose south paw perfectly epitomized a plangent blend of intellectual commitment and world-weary ennui.

I wanted to avoid all conceptual silos while embracing the true ambiguity of the human-stone connection. The result? In the words of some highly placed East Coast critics, this work presents “a stunning commentary on ancient reefal ecosystems,” and “an unblinking glance at the howling desolation in the core of the dolostone experience.” I couldn’t put it better myself.

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What this photo really reveals, besides the blobs of post-Silurian bitumen discussed more fully in Part 42, is the pitted, vuggy, and fossiliferous texture of the Artesian Dolostone. Note how some of the bitumen has taken up residence inside the larger cavities.

The Artesian, quarried on Chicago’s West Side, was extracted from the topmost formation of the Silurian system, the Racine. While apparently some reef building began during the deposition of the underlying Sugar Run Formation, it is the Racine that is renowned for its wide assortment of biogenetic structures, including the world-famous Thornton Reef in one of the Windy City’s southern suburbs.

Of all the Regional Silurian Dolostone varieties to be found on buildings in northeastern Illinois and eastern Wisconsin, the Artesian is by far the most outrageously extroverted of the lot. You either love it or hate it. From one Chicago architect I’ve learned that some owners of Artesian-clad townhouses have actually tried to hose the bitumen off with various germicidal cleaning solutions so the exteriors of their properties would be all nice and prim and tidy.

I suppose that technically this tarry residue of ancient sea creatures is a sort of biofilm. But it must be the most geologically significant kind imaginable, and therefore worthy of our tolerance. Or perhaps even our reverence.

In Victorian times, when people had both aesthetic standards and quirky affinities far superior to those of our own terminally delusional and biophobic era, this spotted stone was in great demand. It was much appreciated for its offbeat appearance. But nowadays we're so addled by the microplastics that have made it through the blood-brain barrier than we spend what little spiritual capital we have gaping slack-jawed at superhero-movie sequels.

So it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut used to say.

The other photos and descriptions in this series can be found at Glory of Silurian Dolostone album.

Taken on: November 1, 2023

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architectural_geology

architecture

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illinois

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Lake Forest, Illinois

First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest

Regional Silurian Dolostone

Artesian Dolostone

bitumen

Racine Formation

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Sets appears in: • Architectural Geology of Northeastern Illinois Exclusive of Chicago • The Beauty of Building Materials more » • The Glory of Regional Silurian Dolostone • Grab Bag of All Things Silurian • Natural History: Illinois • Sacred Places and Spaces « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX530 HS, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX530 HS
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