LOCATION : TALLAHASEE, FL
SCALE: SCULPTURE 20X20
STATUS: COMPETITION SUBMISSION
“MARSH TO MOON” IS A SCULPTURAL TESTAMENT, DESIGNED TO CELEBRATE FLORIDA'S PIVOTAL ROLE IN THE COSMIC NARRATIVE OF SPACE EXPLORATION.
THE SCULPTURE'S ELEMENTAL TRIAD UNFOLDS. AT ITS CORE, AN “OOLITE STONE RING” SERVES AS THE FOUNDATION AND BENCH, INSCRIBED WITH A CHRONICLE OF MISSIONS AND THEIR DATES, CREATING A DYNAMIC TABLEAU THAT CAPTURES THE ENDURING SPIRIT OF EXPLORATION. PURPOSEFULLY PORTIONS OF THIS HISTORICAL CANVAS ARE LEFT BLANK, WHICH INVITES THE ONGOING RECORDING OF FLORIDA'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNFOLDING CHAPTERS OF SPACE TRAVEL.
CONTAINED IN THE VESSEL OF HISTORIC STONE IS A MARSH POPULATED WITH OUR NATIVE AQUATIC PLANTS. THIS MARSH, A SYMBOL OF THE FERTILE GROUND FROM WHICH OUR EXPLORATIONS TAKE FLIGHT, INTERTWINES WITH STACKED OOLITE STONE, RISING FROM THE WATERS TO REPRESENT THE TERRESTRIAL THRESHOLD JUST ABOVE SEA LEVEL, A LAUNCHPAD OF DREAMS.
ASCENDING FROM THIS TERRESTRIAL FOUNDATION, A CONVERGENCE TAKES SHAPE, A SPIRALING CONE OF METAL PANELS SUPPORTED BY A SPACE FRAME. THESE SPIRALS, ECHOING MISSIONS BOTH TRIUMPHANT AND TEMPERED BY FAILURE, BECOME A VISUAL CHRONICLE OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR REACHING FOR THE STARS. YET, BEYOND THEIR STRUCTURAL SIGNIFICANCE, EACH PANEL IS A CANVAS, BEARING THE NAMES AND LEGACIES OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO DEDICATED THEMSELVES TO THE COSMIC ODYSSEY.
FLORIDA'S SPACE PROGRAM IS A TAPESTRY WOVEN BY THE COLLECTIVE EFFORTS OF ITS PEOPLE, FINDS A TANGIBLE EMBODIMENT IN THE METALLIC ASCENT OF 'MARSH TO MOON’. THIS SCULPTURE STANDS AS A LIVING TESTAMENT TO THE PROFOUND INTERSECTION OF PEOPLE,GEOGRAPHY, AND MACHINES, EACH ELEMENT AN INTEGRAL THREAD IN FLORIDA'S INDELIBLE IMPRINT ON THE BOUNDLESS FRONTIER OF SPACE.
