An image of A Work in Slow Descent (2010).

Through his large-scale durational installations, Brooklyn-based William Lamson examines earthly elements and mechanical processes. Lamson stages interventions within vast and often desolate landscapes, introducing man-made materials to manipulate natural elements and achieve alternative ends.

In his 2010 performance and video A Line Describing the Sun, Lamson approached California’s Mojave desert as his canvas and built a drawing machine: a rolling apparatus with a large Fresnel lens. Lamson explained, “The lens focuses the sun into a 1,600-degree point of light that melts the dry mud, transforming it into a black glassy substance. Over the course of a day, as the sun moves across the sky, a hemispherical arc is imprinted into the lakebed floor.” His large-scale, two-channel video illustrates this experience with heightened precision, each drawn-out instant feeling essential to the account. His attention to sonic and textural detail render this land drawing both epic and experiential. The result suggests intriguing insight on contemporary earth art, new genres of video documentation and presentation, and conceptual tradition.

All images and videos courtesy of the artist.