Collection

intent

The original intent for this piece was to use this corner to draw gallery visitors to the left rather than the natural tendency to go right. To create a corner in which the audience was engaged with the material. I wanted them to get close to the material -perhaps even walk on it. I also came up with an idea for an ‘Easter egg’ which might reward closer observation. I also wanted to have a large amount of pebbles to create a sense of abundance. I felt like visitors would be more willing to collect a pebble if there was a feeling of abundance or plenty. In short I wanted to engage the senses in such a way that the visitor felt like they were approaching an Appalachian creek.

changes

Several changes were made in the installation of this piece - some were conscious decisions, others were forced because of limitations of one kind or another. The first limitation was that of the vinyl decal - I was not able to print as small as I liked - the idea was to have very small text that forced the viewer to step on the material in order to read it. The other thing that I learned during the installation is that in order to be successful Dry Creek relied on the contrast between the material and a very clean and shiny floor. Inviting visitors onto this material would create a lot of debris and a dingy floor that would make the entire installation less successful.

The second major change was in the material itself. I realized in creating this piece just how vast is the difference between the material of the Piedmont creeks and those of Appalachian creeks. Even after screening the material of everything but the finest of rocks I could not get the aesthetic of the fine sand bars of the creek sides that I am familiar with. I wound up de-installing the entire corner and beginning again. My little creek had one small sandbar and I returned to harvest just the finest of that material. I laid down a bed of purchased sand and then distributed and blended this finer material from my backyard creek to simulate the Appalachian creeks of home.

The other major change was a loss of pebbles - more than 300 were lost to a kiln disaster. The feeling of abundance and plenty that I had planned for is quite limited. I did my best to arrange them in a way that still creates that image of pebbles washed up at the edge of the creek.

One other change was that I was able to include sound into the work. Ideally I would have a recording of my own creek - and I will be making one for future works when I return home. I did find a 5 minute recording that I was able to license and using a YouTube Tutorial and Adobe Audition I created a looped remix which creates the illusion of the unbroken sound of a creek. I uploaded this to a $20 phone, moved it into a playlist which is playing on a loop over a bluetooth speaker. It works pretty well at not only drawing visitors into the corner but even grabbing their attention as they walk by in the hallway.

deinstallation

I will do my best to sweep up the silt to return it to the creek and add the sand to our backyard sandbox. Left over pebbles will be kept for future projects. The cedar stump I will return to my flower bed. I want to continue to use sound and video in future works. This little phone is a great solution but a more discreet audio speaker would be helpful.