Piled Earth From Near to Far

I couldn’t help but be impacted by my recent research trip to Iceland (where I took part in an artist’s residency in the northern part of the island) upon my return to the Floridian, tropical landscape that surrounds the still-shifting site of the airport’s runway construction. The Icelandic landscape evoked many of the same responses I’ve had to the runway site over these last 15 months – albeit in a much more extreme manner.  With the runway site in the front of my mind, the otherworldly terrain I encountered while traveling resonated in a particular manner it may not have otherwise – I found myself questioning piles of dirt and various formations, and having difficulty discerning whether they were man-made or naturally occurring, in some instances.  The visual results of the modification of the land, impacted by either geology or technology can seem strangely in harmony and discord, simultaneously.

These thoughts were at the forefront of my mind as I captured new images of the site – returning to many of the spaces that have become so familiar, taking note of the variance in accumulation and coloration of earth and debris on my favorite little “mountains”, and looking again to the palms and mangroves that line the periphery.

A few rough composite images from my last visit are below.

Click on images for larger view, please.

That Slice of Sky

I was curious what would happen on this visit as it was the first time I visited the site while consciously thinking of depicting the space in a manner that might simultaneously work as a horizontal or vertical image (either moving or still).  Not surprisingly, I was preoccupied by the way making (relatively) tiny slices out of the piled up dirt would allow the air above (or beside) to dominate the image.  And, similarly, by choosing to make little slivers out of the atmosphere, the space would flatten out drastically.  These simple shifts in perspective are so basic, but it’s interesting to consider that this is likely the dominant view for so many of the workers that occupy these shifting spaces daily. 

Click Image for Larger View

So, that’s part of what I was thinking about while wandering around a bit.  As well, I was drawn to some of the newly produced still lifes resulting from the construction residue – a few of those are below.

  

First Airport Images....

Had my first real opportunity to begin gathering material today in the form of still photographs and video.  I'm posting a few unedited (well, very lightly edited) test shots here.  Will probably follow up with some video clips.  I'm here in Ft. Lauderdale through Friday.  Recovering right now from a particularly hot and buggy day in the "field".  

(NOTE:  I'll be posting about the progress on my airport residency/public art project here in stops and starts over the next 20 months or so.  When I've got more brain energy, I'll post something lengthy about just exactly what it is I'm doing/working toward.  That time is not right now, however....)

Click on images below to see larger version: