Retaining wall construction 10 14 2011

Progress at site shows the development of a retaining wall on the west side of the site. Earlier experiment at building met with some structural breakdowns as I attempted to place sheets of compressed mud as retaining wall face. The weight of the fill dirt soon forced the collapse of the wall. I have been experimenting with forms of adobe and wattle and daub techniques. I am drawn to methods that have a deeper historical print.I am especially drawn to construction methods areas of Mesopotamian and ancient Latin American civilzations. There is a greater mystery, an attachment to the root of the past that I find intriguing.

I am in the process of creating ruins. A place that appears to have been abandoned, stumbled upon in a state of degradation.It is not the Yucatan peninsula or the Valley of the Dead, but it has all the properties of being formally inhabited.The evcavations, crumbling walls, decomposing berms, exposed root systems and rusted drainage are evidence of a deliberate attempt to alter the nature. But to what purpose? What is the significance of the walls, the north facing berms, the concrete foundations on earthen pedestals, the deep trenches? I am sure it is the same sensation that coursed through the blood of the explorers that feel upon the ruins of Palenque.One finds themself at the threshold of a riot of play.

variation #1

Dig Progress 8 23 2011

july 26-28

Looking north, the foreground shows the complexity of digging around piers and extended exposure of roots. At this point, traversing the site takes considerable more concentration than previous depictions due to the uneven topography created by digging around and into the tree's root system.

Traveling through the site has become an action of the past, a memory. Entering the site now entails processing the lay of the land and developing a strategy for a series of interactions.

July 19 2011

Facing south(north pier to immediate right), view of root system and exposure of other piers.

b/w animation of elevation at dig as of 7192011

short animation taken from 5 photos of Paul at the site showing the level of ascension.

Raw footage_Paul_ 7 17 2011

Paul is a regular to this spot. He and his brother have grown up in the neighborhood. He sees this place in some regards as a birthright. They both played in this area as children and continue to use this shared space that I now inhabit with them. He has very strong opinions about the site and the dig. The dig as communicative tool is evident in that as a shareholder in the public space I must listen to a multiple set of voices. Paul, William, local dog walkers Pat and Lorraine are a few of the human voices that regard this space very differently from my approach, so I am aware to heed their advice...but they are not the only voices I collaborate with.

Raw footage at site 7 14 2011

This is unedited raw footage of a conversation with a park/site user. This is one segment of a series of clips taken as I was working on the morning of July 14th. Paul arrived, guitar in hand, and occupied his spot, a place he states which possesses great nostalgic value.

july 11 2011

Dig as of July8 2011

These shots are taken from atop the northwest parapet. The combined elevation from atop the wall to the floor of the trench (running along the sewer line) is approximately 10 feet. From this vantage point you can see all existing piers. Running parallel to the exposed sewage line and directly behind the foreground foundation pier is the southern most extremity of Phase I. Everything north of that pier will be dug to a depth of six feet.

Photographs show the overall lay of the site and the progress of the excavation as of July 8 2011.

carving to 6 feet

fig.1

fig.2

fig.3

fig.4

To give a sense of orientation, the concrete piers are sitting at the original ground level. The top image, as well as the bottom two, give an indication of the current depth, which is approximately 4.5 feet. The projected depth is 6feet in the area surrounding this north facing pier adjacent to the north facing berm.

Visible in the second image (fig.2) is an example of an earlier embedded mask. The mask was made from mud taken from the site and mixed with manure. This earlier version of the mask, though relatively delicate in construction, hold up well to the natural and unnatural elements. The intention is to encrust the faces of all the walls.

Depth and elevation (construction of walls and berms) of the site will take place in simultaneous phases. Phase I, is the construction of the north and northwest berms as well as excavating the areas adjacent to and around the north concrete pier (shown in the foreground in fig.1).

The area of the two middle ground piers during Phase II will be dug to a depth of 4 feet and the area directly behind the piers , Phase 3, will be the atrium with stairs, 2 feet in depth to the first level of the site.

In figure 1 you can see the beginnings of a retaining wall that bookends the large pepper tree shading the site. The retaining wall is made of packed dirt and mortared with mud. My plans are to pack and stack the face of the wall with sun dried brick, filling the interior with excavated dirt. Proposed height of the wall is 4 feet as a sufficient height once the excavation is complete.

Within the wall I have planted Morning Glory seed in an attempt to create a colorful and delicate barrier to the west side of the site that will entwine itself along the wall and in the tree. The purple blooms will add a natural and striking contrast to the varied tones of the soil.

The Flames of Purgatory

On the third Thursday of the month the ritualistic burning of the masks commences. Wood is stacked and the wet masks stinking of manure, clay, dirt, and paper are set to torch over whiskey and ice. A small fire, probably not unlike those our ancestors created is administered to life while the Big Dipper hangs directly overhead. All purpose and thought are clouded in a haze of smoke as a still rests in the air to the music of the crackle of wood. Moist clay hisses at a night painted purple and orange.
this is process also... one individual tucked away in the shadows of his thoughts so that the majority of the tribe might nestle comfortably in the warm assurance of sleep.

wipc slab 1

The "dig" and the mural are two projects that are entirely in opposition but with the same end in mind. Each is a kinetic call and response object. One calls to the environment, in particular to a segment of its inhabitants in a very conventional manner using the vernacular perceived by the signs and conditions encountered, while the other is in effect to communicate through entirely non-verbal means. The mural works within an an established set of grammatical rules and social etiquette.I initially intended to "work with" the existing art and writing on the space, but soon discovered that my voice was to big , active and dominant. What ensued was a stretching out and staking my claim which is entirely within the protocol of hip hop/graffiti culture. It is an open cultural critique with persistence and staying power to criticism as a measure of strength. It is this aspect the the project, the burying of the ego which is most intriguing. The operation of bombing an area with a personal sign is one of free expression ensconced self-promotion. The writers ego is only as large as the geographical range, boldness and available supplies. This preoccupation with space is at the heart of this project.I have established my geo-political map and have entered the space with the intent to appropriate, occupy,redistribute and redesign the area to a preconceived vision as to how this specific area should be managed. As a common space, claim to use is open to interpretation.I entered the area as an objective observer. I let the space speak to me as much as any painter would look at a blank canvas. My initial marks were intimate, innocuous, the propping of a fallen branch on a tree trunk. Soon I was taken broken branches and making a series of gates and fences. These pieces were so quietly integrated into the landscape that they slipped detection by most people, though is was interesting that people did seem to naturally conform to these delicate barriers. As soon as I started to enter objects alien to the environment was when a dialogue began to develop between an unknown individual or group of individuals. The first encountered occurred immediately after installing the "beast" (see earlier post). Within a week of its installation it was viciously attacked, turned on its side with a chunk of concrete that it was anchored to slammed into the body. On three subsequent attacks the legs were broken and once the rope that attached to the concrete anchor had been cut with a knife. Each attack I returned the creature to its original position. It was here that I recognized that the pieces were doing something far more than could ever do in the sterile environment of a gallery. They were provoking a real conversation that was far more profound than any academic discourse. There was something raw and dangerous about what was happening. The mystery is intoxicating. It fuels curiosity. The conversation between artist and audience is real and unrestrained. I had confined myself to a very select area, but after these encounters I began to expand my explorations to other pockets of the park, provoked by animosity at the thought that someone was fencing me out. In other words, "they" had provoked a turf war. My inspections and observations made it evident who my audience was and I secured possible sites hat might engaged the highest percentage of contact. The first site chosen was a 25'-30x 100' concrete foundational slab that has been the canvas of areas taggers. The second site was a shielded blind in a clump of brush and under the umbrella of a group of pepper trees. This site is primarily used as a pot smoking beer drinking natural lounge for locals noted by the spray painted tags on discarded concrete piers and trees that act as seats, resembling an native American meeting area.

This project is about an idea. Better said it is about the potential of an idea. In my estimation the shortcoming of traditional artmaking is that the idea is trapped within the work. It is only through externalization that the original idea can be remotely accessed. As Barthes suggests, a photographer can never be truly experienced by the viewer. The viewer is a latercommer to the experience, the primary experience. It is in the maker where the true depth of the photograph has any meaning. The aesthetic experience is a mono-experiential event. The further you are from the center of that sensation the more necessary is it for the viewer to manufacture a diluted and artifical response.

This work, the dig in particular, is an attempt to expose the inner workings of an art piece. The audience is subject to the generation of the work and there is the possibility to witness the act in progress, question the artist in the moment, and participate in what becomes a real dialogue. There is no dialogue in a gallery. A gallery is a mortuary where the body is presented on a cold slab.

This is the view loking south at the north access slope to the dig site. For years this has clearly been the access point for most people to the area that I am now digging. During and after the rain this slope because of the slippery clay makeup of the soil is virtually impassable. Though only 3 feet from base to crest when moistened it posed a serious barrier. From this view,about middle center is visible presently the highest point of the interior wall I have constructed.From base to crest the wall is approximately 5 feet with about a girth of five feet. As of Tuesday 4 12 2011, I began digging into the access slope cutting into the incline at a vertical and implying a wall at it base by piling the dirt in its path.

Locals emerging from their blind.The site , I am imagining is a focal point for many people in the area who share this space for the same purpose. Smoking and drinking. It is a mutually conceived sanctuary, an "open" space, secluded from all intrusion. This group illusion (test group A) is thin and ludicrous, because they are easily viewed from any direction. The illusion is supported by the voluntary blindness of all other users of the park (test group B). Group A is the smaller of the two groups, but is by far the most destructive. They regularly set open fires, litter and destroy vegetation and have set large section of the park on fire. I see myself as the unknown variable (UV).How will my intrusions affect the interactions and perceptions of this figmental open space. It is obvious that my diggings create the most active and aggressive responses. The reasons may be twofold:1) the digging is a direct alteration of what is wrongly recognized as private property and; 2) it is a baffling reconfiguring without apparent reason.

In other words, UV is absolutely irrational and unreasonable and therefore viewed as a completely indefensible act and must be regarded as hostile! We all know that UV 's are bad for sensitive skin.