A PLACE TO PAUSE

2018

plastic water bottles, rocks, papier mache, construction site rubble, beer cases, wood

Remnants of the Present: A Place to Pause is a glimpse into a public space of the future. From the park bench, users contemplate the remaining columns, traces of an ancient structure built from a strange material – once used for nearly every type of manufacture. The ruins in this small park point to a consumer culture that desired the new and the shiny but was blind to the accumulation of wasted materials – namely plastic – that plagued the entire globe. When the archeologists of the future uncover the artifacts of our civilization, what legacy will be represented?

This artwork in Blanca stands as a monument challenging the status quo of short-sighted materialism. The aim is to offer an alternate perspective on our collective behavior by stepping into the future, where we are defined by our biggest successes and failures of today.

BLANCA, SPAIN

After coming to Blanca and immersing themselves in the environment, the landscape and the people of the Murcia region, Tyler Lewis and Mara Marxt Lewis became acutely aware of the immediate threat of desertification: a process caused by climatic variations, globalized industrialization and urbanization processes. Desertification stands as a major barrier to meeting basic human needs, affecting the livelihoods of the local people who depend on the dry land ecosystem for farming and agriculture. It is one of the greatest environmental challenges today, occurring in dry lands throughout the world and affecting biodiversity, water reserves and soil quality.

The desert is one of the most symbolic and meaningful territories we have on our planet – still not entirely understood. An empty place but full of physical and spiritual resources. The desert is also the memory of our planet and a symbol of adaptation and regeneration, where seeds and plants may remain inactive for a long time and then regenerate with the slightest presence of moisture.

The desert can be as well a site of altered perception, the place where we lose orientation and where we experience the mirages. In Blanca they created works in response to ideas about water, a lack thereof, and what happens when it’s gone.

Work developed during the Residency program of AADK Spain.