Pahuk: Site signals the beginning of a new body of work for me. This new work has origins in Pawnee folklore like some of my previous work, but focuses on the landforms found in the stories. Two major influences have been Pawnee Hero Stories and Folktales, by George Bird Grinnell and Wisdom Sits in Places, By Keith Basso. The first book, published in 1909, George Bird Grinnell records the oral tradition of Pawnee story telling. Told around campfires as a means of entertainment and education, the landscape plays an important role in every story. In Wisdom Sits in Places, Basso archives the importance of story tied to a specific place among the Apache people. The common thread between the two books, and among tribal nations of North America, is how oral tradition is inherently tied to the surrounding landscape. Another underlying theme in both books is the centrality of water and its sacred nature.
Based on the contours of the Platte River in Nebraska, the title refers to a sacred site for the Pawnee Nation found along the banks of the Platte. Pahuk is one of five places where animals, or Nahurac, dwelled. The animals that lived in these sites were conferred miraculous powers by Tirawa, or Great Spirit. The Nahurac dwelling at Pahuk were considered the most powerful of all the animals dwelling at these sites.
The form is the extruded contours of the Platte river near Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska, the site of Pahuk. Starting with a digital model, a positive was fabricated to scale in foam. That positive form was then invested in plaster. The resulting plaster was used to make a wax positive that could be refined to the final form. The wax positive was then used to make a final mold of plaster and silica, which was used to cast the glass, giving the final form seen in the picture.
I have been dreaming of this piece for the past five years. I initially conceived of it during my last year of architecture school. Working in the digital fabrication lab part-time during school, I was hoping to sneak in after hours and mill the form on the school’s cnc machine. Well, time ran out, graduation passed, and it wasn’t until after a move to Seattle and some serious networking that I finally found a shop that could do the job. Then the task was to find a glass studio that had the capacity to make the casting. Because of the scale of the piece, that was no small task. Again, it took a lot of networking and late nights of doing research online. Finally, I came across a place in Yucca Valley, California that specializes in such things. The Yucca Valley Material Lab was a gift from heaven. Not only could they cast the glass, but they were able to build a custom crate for it so I could safely have it shipped to it’s destination in Santa Fe.
Thank you Heidi and the Yucca Valley Material Lab crew for all of your help on this project. I’m really looking forward to working with you in the coming years. Also, I received a development grant from s'gʷi gʷi ʔ altxʷ: House of Welcome at the Evergreen State College. That money gave me a workable budget for the project (frankly, it wouldn’t have happened without it) and I am forever grateful for their generosity.