Between a Rock (2022)

between a rock is an investigation of the relationships between frivolousness and play, as well as materiality and language. The project was born out of frustrations with making, and the desire to go back to a generative process of tactilely exploring the physical world. I immediately turned to the familiar materials like sand and clay. I found it interesting to consider the way these geologic substances have taken on a plethora of meanings as idioms, many of which represent fruitless, intensive tasks (pounding sand, plowing sand, bringing sand to the beach) and struggles to find moral orientations (finding a rock, drawing a line in the sand). The sandbox and ceramic tools offer an opportunity for people to explore these phrases and actions in a non-goal-oriented context in order to transform the frustrating linguistic meanings into moments of play and reconnection with the material.   

 

The second part of the project is a series of interactive book-like objects that are modeled from found rocks. Rather than producing replicas that look and feel like the rocks they were based on, these remakes explore singular qualities at a time. While fabricating them, I reflected on geologic processes, time, weight, and form; and I invite you to do the same as you “read” them.