Rocky Climates

Erratic Conversations

Sarah Fuller

A live Zoom conversation with a glacial erratic situated in the Canadian Shield of Eastern Manitoba.

The Canadian Shield is composed of large areas of exposed Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rock scraped clean by the Wisconsin glaciation and retreat. Glacial erratics from the recession of Laurentide Ice sheet are strewn across the landscape, a tangible remnant of the geologic memory and time within the landscape. The Shield contains some of the oldest rocks on earth and the boreal forest of northern Canada is the largest intact forest left in the world.

My most recent work looks at endemic, vulnerable species found in alpine and boreal environments and is realized through performance in the landscape utilizing wearable photographic camouflage. The images of plants, mosses, lichens and fossilized creatures used to create the camouflage are more than human entities that exist on a longer scale of time in relation to human experience. By donning a photographic material that replicates these species, rocks and fossils, I am gesturing towards an altered state as means to meet the ecosystem on its own terms.

For the proposed conversation, I plan to build on my current practice of creating site-specific camouflage. For the Zoom conversation, I would like to interview a glacial erratic disguised as a boulder in the landscape. Prior to the interview, I will consult with local geology and ecology experts to determine the relative age of the rock, it’s trajectory through history, and how it incorporates into the surrounding environment. I will create a camouflage suit that utilizes images of the rock and its lichen and will disguise myself in the landscape adjacent to the rock for the duration of the interview. I intend for the questions to be both open ended but descriptive, inviting reflections on deep time, decay and memory.

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