SURVEY  attempts to draw the viewer to a specific sight line and another place. Isolated on the outlying grounds of El Camino Real Heritage Center, I designed this work to act as an upright marker in an open chasm of the horizontal space.  Two columns constructed of adobe and framed by a thin steel armature acted as a landmark, drawing the viewer in from a distance. The dirt columns rose up as if extruded from the earth, yet showed the clear imprint of human presence. The steel triangular projections off of the columns followed a trajectory much like a rectangle drawn in one-point perspective.

When situated between the two columns, the triangles directed the viewer’s gaze to the sunrise and sunset at the time of construction. Time was indicated not only by the passing of sun and shadow, but the slowly eroding adobe. The adobe, although a raw, natural material, was cast within the order of a steel frame. As the adobe eroded away, the steel frame referenced its preexisting volume, acting as a reminder of the original, intended form. Through the process of decay, the adobe’s association transferred from man-made back to natural, illustrating that human intent inevitably succumbs to time.