Nature Games
In the summer of 2006 I began a body of work called Nature Games. I spent a month wandering the Italian countryside, trying to experience the land as a child would: with fresh, innocent, and playful eyes. Perhaps naturally, I made up games. “Game one: Assemble the tiniest bouquet. Ever.” “Game eight: Sit under an olive tree and try and catch the blossoms as they fall.” “Game eleven: Try and draw the wind the way it feels on your body.” The games are intimate, quiet, subtle, simple, and sometimes funny. Many of them are about being still and engaging with that stillness. Hopefully, they draw attention to the way profoundly small things often make us feel the most alive.
I recorded the instructions in a small, brown notebook, documented the “actions” with snapshots and digital video, and kept evidence of the acts, primarily in jars.
In May, 2007, I photographed the objects in a professional studio and created an edition of artist’s books.
