How to Read a Rock

At the head of the path leading to the rock there is a Little Free Library awkwardly competing for attention with the ancient petroglyph just a few feet away. Inside the library I found a copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

Written in 1864 this book is widely considered the first science fiction novel and is a prime example of what Indigenous scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith refers to as a travelers tale; a tale about a white adventure seeker bravely discovering new places and peoples. According to Tuhiwai Smith the traveler's tale has shaped more than fiction, and is in fact central to the project of colonialism.

 What a perfect book to find here. A reminder of the broader narrative shaping our encounter and interpretation of the rock.

 Maybe as a way to take revenge on the interference from this novel, or as a way to call out how such texts get in the way of direct phenomenological experiences, I decided to turn the book into a rock.

 I created paper mache rocks from shredded copies of the book text and placed them in front of beautiful images created in the field near the rock.

 I hope the viewer is as annoyed by the placement of these silly rocks as I am with the placement of all the texts and interpretive signs telling us how to think, feel, and know.

 My interest in this rock is about more than my magical attraction to an ancient petroglyph, it is also about the myriad ways that stories are told and retold and carry the embedded racist/sexist ideals into our future.