47 Feet into the Woods
Abington Art Center, Jenkintown PA, 1992.
Site dimensions; Trail = 560 ft.long, Raised path = 47 ft. x 15 ft.
Steel, earth, glass, lexan, rubber, wax and paper. Collaboration with Stacy Levy.
This installation focuses on the events which have shaped the site as we know it; the Indian trail which ran to New York, the cornfield which grew here after William Penn sold the land to John Phipps, the invasion of Norway maples across the woodland, the exotic shrub layer seeded in from the Rosenwald's garden, the ongoing activity of decomposition. The layers of human and plant activities are often too intricate to understand in one glance. It is this mosaic of individual events which makes the site what it is now, and what it will become.
Raised expanded-steel steps:
| The change in elevation was derived from U.S.G.S. topographical map. The steps start at approximately 248 ft.above sea level and descend down a series of contoured terraces marked by numerical labels. These became narrower as they lowered in elevation, until finally becoming buried in the ground, at 235 ft. above sea level. |
Sighting Cones:
| Conical Focusing Devices placed along the trail and raised expanded-steel steps, direct attention to the natural processes which effect the forest site and the land which lies beneath it. |
Looking through a sighting cone.
Hearing Cones:
| Hearing cones located deep within the interior of the woods were connected by trails. |
Sandblasted Text:
| "Phrases" sandblasted onto thick glass were held to the ground next to each cone. These formed sentences when joined with what is heard or seen through the cones. |
Copyright 1998 Andrew Wolff, All rights reserved.