A project that I have underway that will occur over time is an installation that includes one hundred three-inch-by-three-inch dolomitic limestone blocks arranged into a grid pattern. In this instance by placing one hundred speckled Japanese Coturnix quail eggs on each block it evokes a similar sense of repetitive meditation as seen in the artists’ work that I have mentioned in recent research involving nonpartisan expression. I use squares organized in grid structures to implicate order, to embrace commonality and interconnectivity. Both the egg shell and limestone contain calcium carbonate thus share mineral properties. The limestone's ample weight heaved from the earth in contrast to the almost weightless egg shell released from the body of the delicate quail are architectural constructs within the landscape. There is much more to process regarding symbolic meaning within this installation that I continue to explore.
Note:
Arkansas is the nation’s leading poultry producer, supplying 12.6 percent of all the chickens, turkeys and eggs consumed in the United States. Arkansas people produce nearly 18 million chickens each week. Today, Arkansas poultry is helping to feed people not only in the United States, but also in the Soviet Union, Romania, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and many other countries around the world. Additionally, it took millions of years for the geological cycle to form the Ozark hills that consists of dolomitic limestone, perhaps the oldest geological formation of any size in the United States. Furthermore,within the context of architectural principles the grid is an infrastructure that highly complements the era of ubiquitous digital information and services reaching any device and any location. (Travastino 2)
