NATURE OF EXPERIENCE



This site generated sculpture covered nearly eighty acres of Millerton Point in Tomales Bay State Park in Northern California. The piece took the form of a state park nature trail with an information kiosk, vista points, exhibits and rest areas. A blatantly artificial footpath cut across the park in a triangle ignoring the site's natural topography. At the trailhead, one found an information kiosk and map box. They--like most of the constructed items along the trail were constructed of polished steel to highlight their foreign-ness. The map box contained a brochure with a map of the trail and lengthy list of "do's and don'ts" that set a decisive tone of control over the visitor's walk. Small directional signs along the way reinforced the idea that visitors had to stay on the trail. The first "exhibit" along the path, V Bird Bath Box, was a common concrete bird bath filled with rocks that sat on a metal pedestal. When a button was pressed on a nearby post, computer-synthesized bird sounds emanated from it.

The next "exhibit" along the nearly mile long trail was Vista Point. Instead of allowing a clear view of the bay I had mounted two large plates of metal at eye level on two metal posts. One had a peephole through which you could view a restricted and distorted view of the landscape and the other had a similar peephole through which could be seen a map of Tomales Bay run through with a red line. A statement on the map read, "You are standing on the San Andreas fault". Continuing along the trail, visitors came upon another exhibit: the /Real Estate Monument/ which consisted of a nine foot high stack of discarded real estate signs impaled on a metal post. These signs, which were culled from local sources, paid homage to the county's successful fight to slow real estate growth and development. Finally, at the end of the trail was a bench where one could rest and look over the entire sight and decide for themselves what the park meant to them. I left pencils there and encouraged people to write their comments on the back of the brochures. This became the most interesting and lively part of the work, inspiring the most controversial and lively exchanges between me, the participants and each other.

Nature of Experience 1990 Temporary site project; Millerton Point, Tomales Bay State Park, CA; Sponsored Tomales Bay State Park and Gallery Route One in Pt. Reyes Station; One mile long path with exhibits; Wood, metal, paper, plexiglass, audio components