"Shrines along I-40"

site-specific installation, 2002

A shrine can function as both a monument for the dead and a tool of hope for the future. In 2002, I set about to create roadside monuments for five threatened or endangered animals that had at one time thrived in Tennessee. These "shrines" were built from prefabricated wood pieces (such as would be used for home porches) and cast concrete, with typical housing decor such as a brass doorknocker and nameplate for each species - I hoped to create shrines which would evoke worship or memorial from banal and glaringly familiar materials. Each animal is represented by a cement cast pulled from the appropriate taxidermy mannequin - a bust made from the same materials that would be used to preserve the last of these animals in a museum one day. In the concrete base of each monument there was a small carved bowl for offerings and tokens to be left by visitors.

The "shrines" were situated at five equidistant points along Interstate 40 in Tennessee as it stretches from Knoxville and the Smoky Mountains to Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. Each was placed at the edge of the woods along the westbound side of the highway, somewhat hidden but still visible to those who looked for them. I printed hundreds of "travel" brochures which described the project, and surreptitiously installed them in the brochure displays of gas stations, travel centers and rest stops along the route. These guides contained maps to the work, as well as descriptions of the animals.

Some of the shrines are still standing, while others have since been vandalized or simply succumbed to natural degradation. To some who never stopped to look for them, the brochures themselves will be the only proof that the piece ever existed.

See map below for locations and animals depicted.