Future Relic No. 9

Recently, I needed to enlarge a drainage channel near my house. The job was done with river rock, smooth stones that can be laid out to resemble a natural stream bed. I began to work with the extra stones, to make spirals and other shapes in my garden.

While working and considering the permanence of stone, I thought about the ephemerality of the modern world. Trails of existence, written in light. Our documents, our photos, so subject to error, so likely to vanish. I saw this most clearly when considering emoji — little icons, cartoon faces meant to represent expressions of emotion and judgment. I brought some of the stones into my studio and carved into them these symbols of temporary modernity. I thought about some future archaeologist sifting through our rubble and finding one of these carved stones, long after emoji and the reasons for them have ceased to exist.