Rock Collection

Wild Times merged 3D printing and a 2,680-mile thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (from Campo, Mexico to Manning, Canada) as a means of meditating on wild landscapes –  both geographic locations as well as the terrain of our psyche. I was particularly interested in the correlation between our shrinking untamed wildland (only 3 % of the contiguous US is considered wildland) and the intense pressures to mine our experiences for social media – to make our inner world “productive.”

Over the course of my 5.5-month hike, I sent photo and 3D files, blog posts, Instagrams, and related public programming to a series of five West Coast museums and art venues where the transmissions were printed, installed, and shared – evolving into cumulative exhibitions.

Each day I hiked, I “collected” a rock using a photo app on my phone. These images were turned into 3D mesh files that I then transmitted to the museums I was working with. The museums printed the files, live in the gallery using 3D printers, in colors coded to the elevation I found the rocks. Over the course of the hike, this pile of rocks grew to evolve into a colorful cairn, a sculpture, and a map of my journey.  

Rock Collection (for Richard Long), detail
Rock Collection (for Richard Long), detail

 

Wild Times Installation, Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, CA
Rock Collection (for Richard Long), 3D printed rocks, light table, Variable, 2014
Rock Collection (for Richard Long), Rock color/elevation key