The works in the show consist of layers of narrative surrounding the American landscape: from public and private perceptions of the land, how we discuss nature and environment directly, symbolic representations, what is not present in the media surrounding these conversations, and future intentions for preservation and protection. The works are both general and specific, public and personal. They present a variety of views that depend very much on time and location, perspective, memory, landscape, and material, as they relate to themes of absence and recovery.
The cast newspaper articles are a testament to time, an act of archaeology of the present. For the past four months, the New York Times have been categorized based on article content as they relate to nature, land, and environment. Each newspaper article represents a topic of the landscape conversation as it appears currently in the media: public land and national park reductions, EPA (de)regulation, shifting industries, agriculture, nuclear (war?), climate change, art, advertising, natural disasters, Arcadia, fragile nature, affected communities, manufactured “nature”, plans for travel to Mars, and other future strategies and mitigation procedures. The transparent imagery indicate the artist’s observations, research, and interventions. Public perceptions converge with personal inquiries.
Imagery from Oak Flat, Arizona, is a testament to the political and historic dilemmas that persist. Corporate power bleeds into political interventions. Protected public lands become large-scale industrial wastelands. Water resources are depleted. Traditional peoples are disrespected. There is a sustained investment in the protection of the sacred Apache territory, and how this property relates at large to public land management.