The Wooden Cube

Christmas break brings me back to the place of my childhood, Northern California. My family lives on a 10 acre lot outside of town. We have a barn that became my father's workshop. I remember being in there with Dad and working on honey-do's that involved wood. That is where my box came from, my father's supply of wood. He had cut something similar for my mother years ago. This time it was for me and this project. With my canvas in hand, I began to doodle with a dremal on one side of the cube. There was no method to it, just letting my mind wander on to the wood.


After having completed my engraving, I mixed some paint up and splashed my favorite color on the top and sides with a paper towel and a sponge. Blue just so happens to be my favorite color.


And then there was the placement of the cube, along a trail my parents walk often. It's remote yet close to town. Most people don't even know it's there unless they are looking for a place to walk/hike. I placed in the clover for aesthetic purposes. I have to say I enjoyed working on something that people can connect with.





View The Inverted Box Locations in a larger map

Three Peaks

On Monday the 21st I spent the morning driving in the back hills outside the city of Enoch, UT with my Dad. We approached the location from the south and the road we were on became a cow path and then we just dodged juniper bushes to make our way to the spot. We went exploring around the Three Peaks area and I climbed to the top of a large bolder pile west of Three Peaks. It was fairly difficult because of the snow on the rocks and when I reached the peak it was so windy that my camera tripod kept falling over. I was going to install the box at the peak, but found this niche in the rock and thought it would be a great home for the installation.

The views were absolutely breathtaking.

One Muddy Afternoon

Today I went southwest of Cedar City to the dry lake bed outside of town. Getting there and hiking to the position proved to be quite an adventure. It snowed yesterday morning and the ground was the most sticky mud I have ever encountered in my life. While walking to the location where the cube was installed I gained about 20lbs of mud on each boot. The first obstacle was to shimmy down a 25ft cliff that was a lot like a giant slip n' slide. As I was making my way I questioned whether or not I could keep my footing, each step I would sink into the muddy lake 3-4 inches. However, the universe aligned and the walking stick you see in the photos just happened to be right in the trail.

I removed a 6 inch cube of earth, and it immediately filled with the icy water. I then installed the plaster cast 6 inch cube next to the removed portion of earth. The cube disappeared into the landscape as I hiked out.

When I was a kid I loved to explore. There was never really any good reason to, just to get out and catch lizards, build forts, and get dirty. I felt for the first time today in a long time going out in the middle of nowhere by myself like a kid again.