Artist's Statement on Quarries

Scroll through 36 selected works from Quarry 3: Power Lines
Scroll through all 16 "Twos" works of Quarry 3: Power Lines completed thus far
Scroll through all 108 of the "Grids" works of Quarry 3: Power Lines completed thus far
Scroll through all 10 of the "Recuts" works of Quarry 3: Power Lines 2 completed thus far
Scroll through all 25 "Partials" works of Quarry 3: Power Lines 1 completed thus far
Quarry 3: Power Lines 1, 12G, 1
Quarry 3: Power Lines 2, 12G, 1
Quarry 3: Power Lines 3, 12G, 1
Quarry 3: Power Lines 1, Enlargements 5.1
Scroll through all 3 of the "Quarries, Figmented" works Quarry 3: Power Lines completed thus far
Quarry 3: Power Lines 4, Remade 11.1
Quarry 3: Power Lines 1, X-Ray 7.1
Quarry 3: Power Lines 3, X-Ray 8.1
Index to and links to all the "Grids" works in Quarry 3: Power Lines completed thus far
Index to and links to all the "Partials" works in Quarry 3: Power Lines completed thus far
Index to and links to all the "Twos" works in Quarry 3: Power Lines completed thus far
Index to and links to all the "Figmented" works in Quarry 3: Power Lines completed thus far.

Original images for Quarry 3: Power Lines 1, Quarry 3: Power Lines 2, Quarry 3: Power Lines 3, and Quarry 3: Power Lines 4.

This group of Quarry works is based on photographs I took in October, 2007, in Torrance, California, near Los Angeles. To construct each of the Grids, a single image is divided into between 4 and 169 parts, and these parts are then rearranged using random processes. My use of randomness here is different than in much other art. It is my hope that because of the choice of images and the ways the parts are rearranged and presented, each work creates a kind of opening-out effect, suggesting to the viewer that seeing, and the seeing of a single image, offer a nearly infinite diversity of possibilities. More can be found on the Quarries main page and in my Artist's Statement.

For one group, the Quarries, Figmented, I divided the original image into grids between four by four and thirteen by thirteen, and then puts each cell in the grid through a treatment related to that used in Figments works, creating 35 lower resolution versions of each of the 36 cells, and then using random numbers to decide which of those along with the original cell to use. Each work has nine differently-modified versions of the original image. Be sure to click on the larger version and move around in your browser to compare different treatments of the same image.

So far I have made works in this group based on four images, but I have many images of the same locale, and may make "Quarries" out of ten or twelve. In the first two of the images used thus far, I have been struck by the way the "lines" of the actual high-tension lines are echoed by the other lines in the urban environment, and, indeed, a street is as much a conduit of industrial "power," in the particular form of motorized transport, as are the wires themselves. The title thus becomes a pun, also referring to any powerful line and any "line" that conveys power.

The works now titled Remade were titled Figmented-G before November 23, 2010. Quarry 3: Power Lines 4, Remade 11.1 was Quarry 3: Power Lines 4, Figmented-G 11.1.