Boundary|Time|Surface: assessing a meeting of art and geology through an ephemeral sculptural work

Abstract

Boundary|Time|Surface was an ephemeral, site-specific sculpture created to draw attention to the construction of social, political, scientific, and aesthetic boundaries that divide the Earth; one such practice is the scientific subdivision of geologic time. The sculpture comprised a 150 m fence along the international stratotype separating Ordovician from Cambrian strata in Gros Morne National Park, Canada. The fence was constructed by hand within 1 d, on a falling tide, from materials found on site, with minimal environmental impact. During the following tidal cycles, it was dismantled by wave and tide action. This cycle of construction and destruction was documented with time-lapse photography and video and brought to the public through exhibitions, public talks, and a book. Exhibitions derived from the documentation of ephemeral works function as translations of the original experience. In this case, they provided opportunities for public interaction with media that served both as aesthetic objects and as sources of information about the site's geological and sociopolitical history. We assess the role of the installation, and its documentation, in drawing public attention to boundaries, and examine responses including attendance records and written visitor comments as indications of the viewers' engagement with the concepts presented. Of several thousand visitors to exhibitions, 418 written comments reflected the viewers' engagement with both the location and the underlying concepts. Both the original installation and the subsequent work allowed audiences to explore human understanding and acquisition of knowledge about the Earth and how world-views inform the process of scientific inquiry.