'Threat of a greater threat' Teal Gardner, Digital Photo (detail)

OPENING Saturday, March 18, 6PM
EXHIBITION March 18 - April 1, 2023

Laura Feeny - Teal Gardner - Dave Guiotto - Christa Howarth - Mary K Johnson - Matthew Kennedy - William D. Lewis - Ellis Locke - Ryan Simmons - CL Young

Field Work  is a collective show prepared by local artists in response to the prompt of a pressing question here in the Boise Valley: How do the effects of development (past, present and future) impact our living and relating, both within human communities and with more-than-human assemblages? As neighbors aiming  to think critically, curiously, and creatively about these troubles, we have worked to identify, dream-up, put on blast, & observe in ways that configure our commitments as interwoven beings in this bioregion. 

Field Work asks: Is private property an absurdism when considered within the lens of deep time? Does the marketing for this level of violent development read as sinister to you as it does to me? Where can we place ourselves, when our places are rapidly ghosting? Can a new version of a familiar game provide tools for building the futures that are critically necessary in this time, and in this place?

Field Work is a project of The Ecogeoglyphic Observatory (EGG). EGG is a participatory project, initiated by Teal Gardner, that explores the curious dynamics of present-day industrial development in the region surrounding Boise, and the effects that this process has over the plants, animals, water, stone, soil and people who exist here. EGG has been in process since October 2022. Participants, or 'field workers,' met regularly for weekly gatherings (OPEN EGG), and excursions (Field Studies).
Learn more about The Ecogeoglyphic Observatory.

FIELD WORK: a reading + performance
Thursday, MARCH 23, 2023
READING 6-7PM, PERFORMANCE 8PM

Field Workers from the Ecogeoglyphic Observatory (EGG) will be reading from works that are situated here in the Snake River Plain. Dave Guiotto will read from his book of poetry and prose: Holocene Trail Guide to the Boise Front; Matthew Kennedy reading from his book The Word Idaho: 1860 -1914, and Teal Gardner reading from Brick Report, thoughts on architecture and construction in Boise and Oaxaca.

The reading will be followed by an hour break. At 8:00, Ryan Simmons will be live mixing sound for his video "Tesoro," a haunted 14 mins of real-estate and development marketing footage and sound bytes.

[LEARN MORE ABOUT EGG]

PREVIOUS EGG EVENTS

OPEN EGG
Wednesdays, November - March, 5-8PM
Visit with Teal Gardner and project 'Field Workers' at The Ecogeoglyphic Observatory, located in the courtyard at MING Studios. Learn about the project, and how to participate. 

EGGLUCK
Saturday, December 10, 4-6PM
A gathering of Ecogeoglyphic 'Field Workers' and anyone interested in contributing to EGG. Learn about the scope of the project into the next few months; share ideas; sign up to use the EGG studio!

EXHIBITION (Phase 1)
October 15 - November 12, 2022
An exhibition of work that has led Teal Gardner to create the EGG Observatory, more info on the project, and opportunities to get involved.

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CLOSING EVENT
Saturday, November 12, 6-9PM
Join us for a farewell to phase 1 of the Ecogeoglyphic Observatory as it moves on to phase 2! The closing will feature new work collaboratively made by students from One Stone, a local nonprofit high school.

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03 FIELD STUDIES
Wees Bar Petroglyph Hike
Sunday, November 6, 10AM-4PM
Meet at Swan Falls Dam Parking Lot
Bring plenty of water and lunch. The hike is 11 miles round trip, on mostly flat ground.

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02 FIELD STUDIES
Zoning Code Rewrite Community Conversation
Monday, October 17, 6-7:30PM
This meeting will focus on the process and procedures that any development must go through, the process governs what gets a neighborhood meeting, what goes to our commission and committees and what will be presented in front of the City Council.

01 FIELD STUDIES 
Coffee at Tesoro
Sunday, October 16, 9:30AM
Meet at Marianne Williams Park Parking Lot
On Sunday you are invited to join the EGG Observatory for a 9:30 AM gathering, where Teal will be sharing some tactics for observation and interaction with these EGGy themes.

The Ecogeoglyphic Observatory (Phase 1)
October 15 - November 12, 2022

PHOTOS Uli Westphal

Eco - ecology - from oikos, Ancient Greek for house/home. Invoking our home place.
Geo - earth - from gê, Ancient Greek for earth. Invoking the material earth. 
Glyphic - carve - from glyphē, Greek for carve/hollow/engrave. Invoking the act of writing, of carving into stone.