Track & Trail
2.1m x 4.5m x 6.1m
Reused and discarded wood materials,repurposed steel and tires, e-waste, new and used screws as well as reused nails.
2022
2.1m x 4.5m x 6.1m
Reused and discarded wood materials,repurposed steel and tires, e-waste, new and used screws as well as reused nails.
2022
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Track & Trail encourages its users to play and explore by rewarding them through the generation of light and power. The installation was designed as a site-specific response to the locally discarded materials used in its construction, as well as the forms which comprise the local natural and man-made landscape. The elements contained within the structure offer a myriad of ways and means which to interact, play with, view and explore the installation, one’s body, social relationships as well as the environment.
Playgrounds are oases for play, experimentation, exploration, learning and socialization surrounded by the banality of adult life. Johan Huzinga ,a Dutch cultural theorist, speculated in his 1938 book ‘Homo Ludens’ that play is critically important in the generation of culture and society. As such Track & Trail seeks to not only generate culture, but also power, turning that which is seen as waste (in terms of time spent playing as well as discarded materials) as that which is able to give life to society.
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Thus the opportunity presented by the Moab Arts’ ReUse Residency was utilized to make an example of how divergent problem solving can be employed to mitigate climate crisis; whereby what might be seen as unrelated elements can be brought together in the production of energy, reduction of greenhouse gases as well as waste, and the empowerment of society as a whole. Through the installation, play is just as beneficial for those who participate in it as it is for society as a whole - as a localized micro-solution to the problem of electricity generation and waste disposal.
In a contemporary world where most people live and work in ways that are increasingly inactive, but dependent on external energy sources, Track & Trail seeks to reverse that situation by creating an oasis where energy is created by being physically active - and in doing so illuminates the landscape through action, socialization and play.
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Track & Trail was created during a month-long residency organized by Moab Arts, constructed from material collected at the community landfill, recycling center as well as WabiSabi - a nonprofit second hand store - during July 2022 in Moab, UT USA.
