Manuport, McClendon Ave., August 2008, 2009
Media files, electronics, concrete

For Manuport, McClendon Avenue, 2008 I have combined a chunk of concrete aggregate, a relic from some industrial site, with a multimedia recording of a particular urban incident, the runoff from an auto collision with a fire hydrant.  The small scene is easily abstracted as a landscape and may represent cataclysmic geologic activity. The aggregate support acts as a foundation for the scene of rushing water.

In archeological terms a manuport is a natural object, such as a stone or seashell, which has been moved, by the hand of man, from one place to another.  My “manuport” is the combination of an unnatural scene and a mass of industrial debris, which have been transported from the city streets to be placed in a refined environment. An archeologist must evaluate artifacts according to accepted conventions; an artist may interpret according to his own standards. It follows that each observer brings a unique set of tools to evaluation.

Stan Woodard
June 2009