Karen McCoy

Invisible Operations asserts my certainty in the ongoing presence of unseen, but nonetheless tangible processes and their effect on our lives. The phrase "invisible operations" refers to a London Times article published in 1870, a time "when scientists were first confronting the universe in microscopic detail previously unimaginable." Geological formation, for exampIe, takes place every day under our feet and all around us. Local geology, as it underlies the site, is a generating force in the project. Indigenous South Carolina red earth, fortified with a small percentage of cement, has been compacted into geometric forms. Ramming red soil into compact, successive layers creates solid structures that reference layered geologic formation. Since ramming earth requires no external structure, beyond the molds for construction, the solid red earth blocks appear to have simply emerged from the topography of the site. Geometric form is a metaphor for human transformation of land - the way we grid, divide and construct as we live on the landscape.

The twenty-eight rammed earth geometric solids in this work range in size from 1' x 1' x 1' blocks to a 6.5' x 2' x 6' wall and are situated within a grid on the site. In order to construct the project, a temporary grid was staked out over the location with its orginative axis being parallel to one of the extant fences. Fragments of this construction grid have been planted in a fine-bladed mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonica). In a few years this barely visible grid will grow to re-establish geometric structure as a tangible presence. Purple-leafed European beech trees planted near the rammed-earth blocks will mature to mark the position of the rammed earth blocks as they slowly erode. They will add new color to the forest and extend the adjacent American Beech grove. Thus the project employs natural processes and indigenous materials in combination with invented processes and imported materials.

The blocks, plants, and site will change over the years as they are continuously shaped and reshaped by processes of weather, growth, and human interaction.