EXTRACTOR/ED
2019photo documentation of a performance
Anthropomorphization can surface sympathy and likeness. I reflect upon a personal practice of landscape humanization; often noting the profiles of mountains which have an uncanny resemblance to that of a human. Throughout Southern Colorado, there exist these shapes, periodically interrupted by methods of extraction. I note this dichotomy surrounding the ideas of anthropomorphization and extraction; while we see ourselves in landscapes, many do not hesitate to mercilessly extract from them.
In the piece, Extractor/Extracted, these ideas are brought together into a single anamorphic frame. A photo of a horizon in the distance is presented, but upclose the juxtaposition is derived. By excavating earth and then placing my body atop it, I become both roles; extractor, and extracted. Appearing as a continuation of the horizon line, my body is supported by the brash metal of the extraction tool, which threatens to displace both the body, and the earth by which it is surrounded.