Pilot Light Pilot Butte @ Paul Kos. 1974. videotape

- KOS Paul, Pilot Light, Pilot Butte, 1974. Videotape. 

Kos shaping ice to make a lens in order to build a fire at Pilot Butte.

— Tom Kent, « Paul Kos – Videotapes and Sculptural Residue, » Artweek, v.5, November 2, 1974, p.5. Review of Kos’ exhibition at the DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, featuring his Pilot Butte, Wyoming piece, includes videotape of performance and documentation/objects related to the work. Excerpt:

« ‘It seemed Pilot Butte needed a pilot light to extend its visibility,’ says Paul Kos. ‘So I lit a fire on top using a block of ice after first fashioning a magnifying lens out of it.’ The laying of the fire, the making of the lens, the ignition, burning and eventual extinghishing of the fire by the melting ice comprise a spare, ironic ritual performed by Kos in August of this year, recorded by his wife Marlene on a videotape… »