This is the first of a series of large-scale earthworks. I used a twenty-acre field of barley as a canvas through which an enlarged floorplan of a common single-family residence home was eliminated by hand. The lines of the floorplan were eight feet wide. Over 5,500 lateral feet were carved from the field. I created the entire image of Single Family Residence using a hoe, following strings staked out 400 feet at a time. I documented myself in this video (45 minutes long, comprised of a single shot) to examine the futile role of a farmer performing the act of clearing the land for future development.
2003 – 2004
barley
20 acre field (8.1 hectares)
earthwork, Surprise, Arizona
Hoe Cam, digital video, 45 min
Public Art