I was the Artist-in-Residence at the New Bedford Whaling Historical National Park for spring 2019. I used their Makerspace area to explore my ongoing focus on the spatial network of the industrialization of the american landscape via the ruins left behind, specifically Superfund sites- the image of the Makerspace glowing at night scene here. Having grown up within a contaminated community, I know the complicated relationship between contamination/site/archive/health/placemaking and identity shaping. For this artist in residency I engaged with New Bedford residents because of the rich symbolism of the street lamps, the whaling industry, and the immense figural presence of Melville's Moby Dick. With visitors I led them on a workshop entitled ‘Ground-Truthing’ whereby we collectively annotate an official map with their view from the inside and thus I learn their cognitive mapping of the superfund site. I also wove into the discussion the irrational obsession with the ‘White Whale’ as an analogy of living with the contaminated waterfront.

https://www.nps.gov/nebe/air-dan-borelli.htm

These images are from my ongoing log I keep as I enter into new publics, contact me directly if you’re interested in my artist’s research report on this project.