Terra Firma I: Distance Decay

A collaboration with ecologist Jeff Nekola, this work investigated how we know a place. It derived from walks along the cardinal directions, starting with the gallery as ground zero. The ghostly frieze on the front incorporated approaches like maps, statistics, histories, and diaries, while the back featured depictions of items found on the four walks through graphs, photos, electron micrographs, sketches, and direct prints. A scope allowed examination of an illuminated map and lit niches displaying the objects themselves. The intent was to examine not only methodologies for piecing the world into something comprehensible, but to explore the unspoken world views implicit in various means of representation. “Seeing is believing,” but is subject to bias and error.  Similarly, such languages as photography, graphs, maps, and statistics embody an air of truth, but are no less driven by their creator’s presuppositions. This leaves the question of just how firm Terra is beneath our feet.