Dead Reckoning
noun
1. A method of estimating the position of an aircraft or a ship without astronomical observations, as by applying to a previously determined position the course and distance traveled since.
2. Predictive calculation based on inference; guesswork.

Much of my studio practice involves depictions of the natural landscape that highlight, disguise, document and fictionalize how people interact with nature. At times I am most interested in events or environments where the eclipsing of people and nature are subtle and banal while other times I am more interested in romantic and monumental overlaps. The installation in the gallery for “Dead Reckoning” was born out of my observations of the gallery space itself. Some of the most striking features of the gallery for me were the areas where the building’s climatic infrastructure is visible and impossible to overlook. The visual prominence of the thermostat, water pipes and ventilation system all seemed like sculptural elements thoughtfully placed by another person. These details determined how I would use the space – my own version of dead reckoning. The climate controls are evidence that nature has been harnessed, measured and re-distributed in the space – the outside world pocketed and brought inside. What I have added to the space provides a reminder that while our physical distance to nature is not far at all, a cultural perception of being separate from nature remains intact.