Galisteo Basin Shepard's Riveted Water Pipe

Galisteo Basin Shepard’s Riveted Water Pipe Dovefeeder

Found Object Sculpture / Backyard Reliquary

This piece began its second life after being rescued from the Galisteo Basin, just east of the ghostly outpost once known as “Kennedy,” near the Union Pacific line to Los Angeles. Likely originating from New York, the riveted steel pipe once served as part of a temporary shepherd’s camp — its past marked by large boulders scored with gauge lines, remnants of canvas-wrapped shelters, and a gravesite 600 feet to the north that solemnly speaks to the brutal winters.

For 33 years, the pipe stood just outside the perimeter wall — exiled by the lady of the house who declared it “trash.” Only when her eyesight softened with time was it allowed into the backyard, where for the past five years it has fed white-winged doves.

The branch “arm” — a weathered length of Piñon pine — is mounted via a steel arrow. The entire structure is about 6.5 feet tall. It now stands as a quiet witness to resilience, adaptation, and the layered histories of a high desert basin.

It was one of my original works.