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| the Nature of Nature __ 1998 A book, soil, glass aluminum & steel. 43 x 42 x 32 inches |
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In the piece "the Nature of Nature", a nineteenth century encyclopedia is placed on top of a rectangular shaped section of earth contained in a glass display case. After the addition of approximately 200 termites the case was sealed off except for a screened section to allow ventilation. Just as we exert our nature upon nature, nature exerts its nature upon us. Collecting, sorting, defining, theorizing, concluding... are all actions of our nature, yet all of this activity of ours is vulnerable to the persistent activity of nature.