Off Road (2008-2014)

Off Road brought together a single channel video installation, 3 video objects, sculpture, interviews and a slide show of 160 images. These works, developed in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis between 2008 and 2014, look at how the notion of freedom in the United States becomes manifest in a unique relationship to landscape. Off Road explores freedom as being instrumental in sustaining the political system that houses it.

Shot in a landscape of Sahara-like sand dunes, a state vehicular recreation area bordering a nature reserve, Off Road observes the contested nature of these spaces. Over the weekend, thousands of users arrive to the SVRA in their RV’s, SUV’s and self built motor vehicles. The main focus is driving these vehicles in the deep sand of the the dunes, a seemingly futile activity that paradoxically can not be sustained without both considerable fiscal and personal commitment.

On the one hand, the area plays a significant role in creating a sense of community, a temporary city that joins people from distant backgrounds through their shared interest  in this activity. Many of its users claim that the commitment that each of them have cuts through their differences, such class and social boundaries. Juxtaposing this social function is the problematic issue of the contested ecological impact that this activity has, resulting in strong opposition and a constant threat of closure. 

Alongside this, the location encapsulates a remainder of a pioneer spirit; a sense of entitlement and claim to land that has defined and shaped this region of the world. Except now there is no more new land left to claim. Here we are already at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, there is nowhere left to go but elsewhere.

3.5 Million Bullets (2013-2014)

3.5 MILLION BULLETS is the number of rounds fired at a shooting range over the weekend of the Big Sandy Shoot, a bi-annual event in Arizona that brings together aficionados of fully automated weapons.   During the night shoot, an extraordinary but short-lived spectacle, the gunmen shoot at explosives strategically placed around the range to create a visual spectacle and cacophony of sound. Just as spectacular as the event, is the amount of energy and money invested into it. 

Ever since private citizens are no longer allowed to own fully automated weapons, all the guns used at this festival are collectables, costing around the $40,000- $50,000. A single bullet costs around $7 and an average of 3.5 million bullets are fired over a weekend. Since the land is privately owned, usual gun regulations don’t apply.

Boys and Their Toys (2006)

The photographic series Boys and Their Toys was shot at the amateur rocket festival (Balls) on Black Rock Desert. This is an annual event where a small number of rocketeers, mainly men, meet up in the Black Rock desert, a vast, dry lakebed in Nevada to launch their self-built rockets. These rockets go to such heights that the mainline air traffic between east and west coast is diverted for the duration of the festival. I am fascinated by a culture that has the ability to divert air traffic to create the space to facilitate the passion of such a small group of people. Below is an excerpt from the announcement for Balls 25:

Balls 25 is a venue for projects that should NOT be flown publicly due to safety and legal restrictions. This may include, but is not limited to, large rockets, complex staging or clustering, metal rockets, self-designed and/or fabricated rocket motors and new technologies being developed or proven. Black Rock Dry Lake has always been a special site for large rocket launches. Its wide-open vastness is unprecedented for its high altitude recovery record. Through the years Balls has grown into non- professional rocketry’s show place of the best in the sport. The quality, craftsmanship, sheer size, power, and technologies cannot be compared to any other launch anywhere. The best thing is the exchange of new thoughts and methods that are presented openly to anyone who asks. This launch will be primarily for research motors and/or dangerous projects. 1