Great Unconformity

The Great Unconformity (2014) is a two-channel projected HD video named for a rock formation found by 18th-century Scottish geologist James Hutton. It is a collaboration with Jenny Polak that was shot while we were Artists in Residence at a National Parks Service residency at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in April 2104.

Science and the Enlightenment are crucial to modern society. Recent attempts to undermine science have profound implications for humanity and thus for our work. The video directly looks at the geology of the park as evidence that historically led and in the present continues to enable people to understand the age of the earth. It gives us a deeper sense of wonder of our planet.

The footage we shot at the Canyon is intercut with line animations — the video focuses on the observation of rocks as part of the historic effort to break from Christian dogma about the age of the earth.

RT 15:44. The excerpt shown here combines the two channels into a single stream. The excerpt is 04:07.