Project Description:

This project began with my interest in uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. Uranium was extracted from the region in support of nuclear weaponry for the Cold War. Unknowingly playing a lead role, Navajos have inherited three decades of environmental devastation. After conducting oral history interviews and photographically documenting the area I created a website for the compiled materials:
http://www.turbinesongs.net/. While traveling throughout the area, however, I became interested in the diffuse and wandering broadcasts from tribal radio. They seemed to echo the surreal impact mining has left behind in its wake. I recorded excerpts of the radio programs and later edited them together in the form of an audio collage. Working with solar energy I hope to project the reconfigured audio through an outdoor installation. The proposed location for this installation is Wendover, Utah. The Center for Land Use Interpretation is sponsoring a residency there to explore the project’s configuration. The area contains a decommissioned military base along with a number of facilities related to mining and nuclear production. By introducing the audio collage to the space of Wendover the project will engage technology and social investigation through a hybrid landscape. Please activate the quick-time application below to hear a condensed version of the audio.

Sculpture Design Proposal