Proposal for PIC 2011

Artist: Mark-Allen Harmon www.Markharmon.org

Project Title: Topography of a Calamity - A Site Specific Installation

Material and Technical Recources: Painting, Ceramic sculpture, Plaster

Casts, Found Objects, lighting.

In simple terms:
The galery space will be transformed into a three dimensional or
rather four dimensional map of the Valley of San Cristóbal with sturdy
papermaché mountanins sloping up to meet a painted sky, a model of
the town made of plaster casts, ceramics and found objects will serve
as an interactive model for urban development, social and ecological
dynamics. In order to illustrate the uncontrolled growth of the city and
the comercial ambitions that are transforming the center, the city will
be rendered a sort of monopoly board constructed of pretty ceramic
tiled houses and businesses symbolized by trash featuring their logos,
such as Mc Donalds, Chedraui, Burgerking, Coca Cola and Pepsi, Cruz
azul etc. Groups of four will be invited to play out development
scenarios in the week preceding the opening of the installation to the
general public. Special attention will be payed to such altered
landscapes as the Gravel Mine, Contaminated rivers and Parque de los
Humedales (rendered ironicly as tupperware containers) Bucolic
Landscapes and utopian dreams will coexist with biting Sarcasm and
social critizism. The intention is to represent the city as it exists;
fraught with seemingly irreconciilable contradictions... with all its
beauty, potential and its problems.

In Conceptual turns:
The Visitors to “San Cristóbal Topography of a Calamity” will find
themselves literally walking onto the work. Like giants towering
above the town and surrounding valley they will stuggle not to tread
upon the carefully constructed model of the city, or trample it
mercylessly, forcing awareness of the inevitable and often negative
impact we have upon the places we inhabit and visit.. At the End of
the Show the work will surely be thouroughly trashed; hopefully
helping to generate a sense of personal responsability and desire to
positively impact the community of San Cristóbal.

In Spiritual Terms:
The loving effort to create a beautiful model of the city, then offering it
to be walked upon by the public, serves much as a sand mandala does
in the tibetan buddhist tradition as a way to express the best of
intentions and releasing them to the winds.
This proyect has been on my mind for a long time and I hope to have
the oportunity to realize it as part of PIC 2011.

Sincere thanks, Mark Allen Harmon