ÉTALON [FIELD REPORTS]
2018 / 2023
CuSTOM LETTERPRESS,
CALENDAR PAGES, POLAROIDS, MAPS
[A PERFORMATIVE ARTEFACT / EXHIBITION OBJECT FROM ÉTALON: A 112-DAY / 2,100 KM PERFORMATIVE ACTION]
ÉTALON WALKING COMPANIONS:
BONI CAIRNCROSS, ALEX PEDLEY, KATH FRIES, LAURA HINDMARSH, LUCY PARAKHINA, MAGALI DUZANT, CONNIE ANTHES, CHANTEL MENG, SHARNE WOLFF, STEPHANIE BROTCHIE, ANGELA LOPES AND DARREN ENGWIRDA.
SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATOR:
DARREN ENGWIRDA
Prior to commencing étalon I was fortunate to meet Dr Yves Winkin, (then) director of the Museé des Arts et Métiers – France’s preeminent industrial design museum and home to a vast collection of scientific instruments (including several of the original metre bars first made in the late 18th century). I arranged to send Winkin a set of ‘reports from the field’ recording my actions and observations while measuring – replicating the historical tradition of scientists reporting back to their institution while completing field studies.
Each Field Report contains a set of predetermined information – including location, distance travelled, temperature and emotional state. It also recorded personal reflections and each day’s provisional metre length – calculated from the daily act of measuring the size of the Earth. In addition to the field report I also sent back the raw data accrued from measuring – marking the two GPS locations of each measurement and the distance measured between these points, as well as a polaroid photograph taken each day while walking.