UNMANNED MINERALS
The Desert Die
Created by collective Unmanned Minerals-- Jared Stanley, Matthew Hebert and Gabie Strong,-The Desert Die is an interactive sculptural way-finding device that interrogates how language mediates landscape. The Desert Die subverts the notion of stationary wayside interpretive literature, and instead uses the visual and verbal vocabulary of interpretive literature against its original intention to orient the spectator within the landscape.
In typical wayside literature, the marker formalizes the viewer's experience into a one-point perspective; in The Desert Die we add an additional five perspectives on any given point; in this way, we investigate how an object can limit and manipulate experience in the landscape. The piece is a six-sided die, approximately 1' square in size, and rests on a pedestal. The die is constructed of steel, with milled aluminum placards bolted to each side. Each placard features an engraving of an imaginary element of a desert landscape. Each time the die is "rolled," a switch within the die will trigger an audio recording of a poetic/interpretive text describing an imaginary site, and not necessarily the site in which The Desert Die is located.
The Desert Die was temporarily installed in the Wonder Valley area on March 6 as part of the greater Mapping the Desert/Deserting the Map event.
Video of the The Desert Die:
The Desert Die (overdubs) from Matthew Hebert on Vimeo.
Click on an image to expand
