Artists responded to U.S. 1’s invitation to share visual thoughts, feelings, and discoveries during our current health crisis.
This week Frenchtown-based artists David Horowitz and Judith Marchand share their quarantine-produced continuation of a collaboration project begun in 2016, “Modern Fossils.”
In a statement, they say:
Mankind’s interaction with its natural environment is the basis and subject of this work.
Just as natural fossils are the imprints of prehistoric life on earth, we have created “Modern Fossils”: pieces that ponder the substances we are currently leaving behind in our environment, to be unearthed far in future.
We were inspired by the embellished metal manhole and storm drain covers that are found on the streets of their local cities and towns.
With these in mind, we create original plaster castings, which represent their community’s impact on the waterways which sustain us and give us life. The message on these castings, “Dump No Waste, Drains To Waterways,” proclaims the clear truth that our waterways’ health is key to our local community’s existence and future.
During clean-ups of local waterway environments, we collect both natural materials and man-made detritus, which they then use to design the images in their castings and visually illustrate this message.
The resulting wall hangings embody the modern dilemma of mankind’s struggle to maintain a balanced relationship with nature, and also proclaim the vital environmental message stressing the necessity of keeping our waterways clean and healthy.
Modern Fossils have their roots in my, Judith, love for the environment and her local rivertown community, combined with my, David, 20-plus years of experience in creating and casting environmental sculptures in NYC (“Urban Fossils”) and in cities around the world.
Submit artwork to dan@princetoninfo.com.
