How Much Earth For Sale?

Earth, concrete, wood, metal, paint

2022 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial Participant

Artist Statement

Building with rammed earth is the one of the oldest techniques. Civilizations have historically relied on earth as an available material – it is durable, cost effective with minimal environmental impact. How Much Earth is for Sale? is conceived as a monument, even for those with whom we disagree. We have become a nation of judgmental provocateurs, leveraging social media platforms to saturate the popular zeitgeist with superficiality, while evading taking responsibility on what’s at stake:  access to justice, historical redress, environmental disasters, and racial inequity. We are spurring divisions and conflicts within our communities and households. A staple of federal and state cases related to Native American land title for 200 years is Johnson v. M’Intosh, 21 U.S. (7 Wheat.) 543 (1823). The landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court held that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans. The legal result was that the only conveyances executing valid transfers of land title ownership with Native Americans were the one transacted with the Federal Government: creating a system of monopoly, annihilating free market-style biddings and enabling the acquisition of Native American lands at the lowest possible cost. The home frame replicates that of a Monopoly board-game piece and the lines of the home painted in ‘warning and safety’ color orange.