The Marks of Industry

I am interested in marks that reflect human industry where nature has overtaken it and clouded its origin. Examples that come to my mind are vapor trails through the sky, aerial photographs of lands impacted (but no longer) inhabited by people, old graffiti, severely weathered documents, foot prints on the wet sand at the beach, and so on.

Marks like these pose unanswered questions that beg conjecture and fantasy. Are the canals of Mars, for example, naturally occurrences or are they evidence of a previous civilization? These marks reflect how time, nature, and fate play upon human accomplishment. No human accomplishment, however great, is immune to the deteriorating effects of time and nature. Struggling to undermine the fate of our fading triumphs is one of humanity's greatest preoccupations, and we commonly make up stuff to fill in the blanks in support of what we hope is true.

2004