Rock Formations

This project was conceptualized over the course of one semester. The execution had to be complete within 10 weeks and it was a solo project that demanded time and energy. The result was a full scale test for a potential finalized edition with better quality materials and the ability to have a uni-body construction would be a part of the final design. This project had to have the ability to come apart within 8 hours and fit through a standard doorway. That being said I am pleased with the final product of this full scale model.

Artist Statement:

The Inuit people call their version of cairns ‘inukshuk’ which translates as “to act in the capacity of a human.” I focused on my Jewish cultural tradition involving stones. It involves placing stones on the site of a loved one’s grave for memorialization. The word for pebble in Hebrew is tz’ror, which is also the word for bond. The El Maleh Rahamim prayer is said over the dead and part of it translates as “may the soul be bound up into eternal life”. The same word was also used to describe the pebble a shepherd would keep for each animal’s life in his flock. There is an eternal quality to stone and it is also human nature to seek eternality in life. Something I have experienced making a large quantity of stones is the physical strain and amount of energy required to create these objects that nature spends so much time shaping. The meditative process of carving and sanding by hand lead to the thought of how much force nature must exert over rocks. Carving from soft wood I experience a fraction of how much energy it takes for nature to carve stone. This soft wood that emulates stone is also imitating the way we try and shape our ephemeral selves into these eternal beings through a long history involving stones. The tactile aspect of walking barefoot in sand and water work towards meditation. The sand being the results of water exerting force onto stone breaking down this eternal material.

For more detail feel free to view my entire project documentation