Marking Time With(in) the River/Water

This participatory exercise developed from the ongoing cycle of research/making related to my current project, DESCENT ≈ An Atlas of Relation.

Marking Time With(in) the River/Water was designed as an open-access workshop to be easily modifiable for a broad public, allowing engagement with varied bodies of water or other related spaces. The methods and approach are fairly straightforward, allowing the exercise to function as a shared resource that can be replicated by and with a variety of communities and environments. This work/exercise is particularly informed by the writing and thinking of cultural theorist, Dr. Astrida Neimanis, whose ongoing conversations related to bodies of water continue to provide meaningful insights and encouragement.

The first version of the workshop occurred along what is currently known as The Flint River. Participants included biology students engaged with the study of river restoration efforts at The University of Michigan-Flint. During the session, each student created their own unique print exposed/developed by the light of the sun and (it seemed) all were captivated by this way of knowing/seeing/being. (Special thanks to Dr. Heather Dawson and her co-teacher Melissa Starking for help facilitating the first workshop.)

Thus far, subsequent workshops have been held at Warren Wilson College (Asheville, NC); Villa Barr Art Park (Novi, MI); and Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI). My hope is to continue offering these workshops indefinitely and in various forms, adding to an ongoing archive. Working together, perhaps we might create a massive collective group of community prints imaging/imprinting the distinct "hydrocommon" (Neimanis) worlds of their makers, at/for particular points/periods in/of time.

To view images and workshop guidelines, visit the links below:

Flint River, U of M Flint (Flint, MI)

Swannanoa River, Warren Wilson College (Asheville, NC)

Villa Barr Art Park Pond (Novi, MI)

Red Cedar River, Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)

St. Marys River (Sault Ste. Marie, MI, U.S.A. and Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada)

This workshop was also influenced by and is intended to correspond with a watershed exercise designed by Dr. Zoe S. Todd, for their Indigenous Ecological Ways of Knowing course, as well as its expanded form produced as the 2021 exhibition, Alluvium, organized by Allis Conley and Coron Androski along with Sarah Rowe at Amplify Arts in Nebraska.

The above image include a collection of prints produced by students at The University of Michigan-Flint in October of 2021.

INFORMATION

PROJECTS

DESCENT ≈ An Atlas of Relation

Current Work-In-Progress

2021 - Present

Conditions for an Unfinished

Work of Mourning