Stray Plow
Brian Scott*
May 15 – September 30, 1991
Brian Scott, Stray Plow; 1991; aluminum, stainless steel, wood, motor, topsoil; 4' H x 40' W x 63' D
Artist Statement
A small motor boat seemingly traverses this park leaving in its wake a trail of waves, disturbing the earth, breaking up the surface. This interruption punctuates the surface, revealing the substance of a body below. In the background, water plunges and circulates; the sound of its fall echoes the power of the motor. The destination of the boat is not disclosed. This unguided craft is astray, reflection apparently its only cargo. It is perhaps this pool of reflection that the vessel transports, that is its port of call.
The boat is powered by an outboard motor, the internal combustion engine a cornerstone of our culture's applied science. Its strength as a symbol is perhaps even greater than its power as a tool. For it is technics that attend to our changing perception of nature. Our technology operates on the cultural assumption of nature as implement, an idea that forms our concept of resource, facilitating the acceptance of its displacement.
It is this displacement of matter that Stray Plow makes reference. Does this urban park not design and produce nature as a shrine to itself, restoring that pool of reflection, forming nature out of the un-formed? Through our tool-making abilities, we have invented ourselves as triphibious creatures, capable of existing on land, in sky or in sea. An empty boat sometimes carries a valuable cargo.
A small boat traverses this park; the terrain undulates in its wake.
*See Brian Scott in Venture Down The Garden Path
