Stratascope Forest I presents viewers with a plot of land – a stone square with branches – reminiscent of those colonial stonewalls that run for miles through thick New England forest. What did our open spaces look like before the trees reclaimed the farmland, and what was here before the invasion of the farms? Questions curious children may ask as they explore layers of forest space. For the adults, how do we shape our spaces today – forest, suburban, urban? What is our impact, and most importantly: what will be our “stonewalls” around which children of a future time will explore?

Within this installation's perimeter the echoing lines and curves of freestanding, refined shapes beckon the viewer to discover their own personal paths. Should a viewer decide to play, they may be surprised to see their action recorded and projected back into the space itself, documenting an increasingly buried record of activity within a video’s delayed and spiraling loop. As time moves forward and more changes are made to the installation, this space momentarily holds its memories of the recent past before the viewer's image is “buried” under layers of time.

Here you have a fabricated forest with visible layers of action - documenting human impact. It’s your space to shape… now play.

Don Burton, November 2007