Withlacoochee Installation

Flickr photoset.

The idea I came to this piece with was that of edges. During my trip down the Withlacoochee I paid the most attention to the boundary between the water and the land. In some places it was overwhelmingly natural, with trees eroding into the river, and palms bending far out as the banks shrank underneath them. Other areas were the exact opposite, with huge stone, wood and concrete embankments holding the shoreline static. The most compelling areas were where these two extremes came into direct contact. Areas that had man-made structures being undermined and broken down by the natural flux of the banks.

The video piece I brought to the installation was an exploration of this bank/river interaction. I had ideas of how I'd like it to be projected, but nothing concrete in mind. Inside the space, the installation evolved, and my projection was scattered throughout the room, reflected and fragmented. Both the angles it attained and its seemingly sourceless origin worked towards the effect of reflected sunlight off rippling water. Illuminating and interacting with the various walls and objects, the entire installation came to be about edges from my perception. My work on the border between land and water, the border between the natural and man-made, between earth and sky.

Though we all came at this project from different angles, it is the interaction and accommodation of each-other's ideas during the installation process that enabled it to come together as a whole. The installation was not about any individual component, but rather their interaction, both in physical space, and the conceptual content as it eddied around the varying viewpoints brought to the work by each participant. When It was completed, I remarked that all I would need is a kayak, and I'd feel like I was paddling down the Withlacoochee again. From the amalgamation of the different takes on the same trip, the experience was re-synthesized.