The Driveabouts are documentations of journeys into the political, historic and geographic landscape. They take the form of large photolanguage installations that combine contemporary photographs with historic images and maps. The name Driveabout is a reference to walkabouts, the spiritual journeys of many traditional cultures. For these journeys I strap myself into a steel and glass wheeled vehicle, that consumes non-renewable resources and spews green house gases and acid rain components, and travel to places of political and historic significance. Photographs taken along the way illustrate contemporary evidences of connection to past and distant events and places, and murals (computer printouts and/ or color laser copies) ground the work. The photographs are printed to 8"x 10" and have the mile number (at which they were shot) and a descriptive text printed into the top of the image. The murals consist of maps, historic photos and historic texts; they tell the story, letting the viewer know why this is a place of significance.
A relationship between these Driveabouts and the walkabouts of traditional cultures is that both are journeys of discovery. The Driveabouts are a personal search for a more thorough understanding of our culture's relationship to its political, historic and geographic environment. They are also meant to communicate the process of searching (and the results of that search) to the viewer. Their form is loosely based on a scientific model; this is meant to emphasize the investigative nature of the work and to exaggerate the commonly held misperception that photography is exclusively an artifact of objective truth. I would like the Driveabouts to look more like documentation than like high art. High culture is usually handed down from above, by the powerful galleries and museums and their wealthy benefactors. This elitist structure has disenfranchised the average person. The Driveabouts use a common language; maps and photographs are universal in our culture and the texts offer an additional anchor. My intent is to offer work that speaks in the language of the non-elite.
I would like the viewer to reexamine the connections that we have to the past, and to be more aware of the evidences of this connection that we live with daily. It is important to me that these works are not seen as judgements from above. I am a part of the culture that I critique and self implication is intended. The Driveabouts will be considered a success if they ask more questions of the viewer than they answer, and the best response would be for the viewer to be stimulated into investigating further the questions raised by my work.
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