Collected Topographies
In a world when everything is over integrated - so much so, that our very own desires are flattened and replaced with attention capturing mechanics, we need systems that provide containment and permission to fail. Collected Topographies is an exercise in this particular balance. This practice offers an alternative to networked spaces that are not dependent on platform capitalist technologies. It is a way to rethink digital tools for archiving and sharing.
Collected Topography grew out of years of documenting collaborative drawings made with friends, lovers, and strangers on scrap paper. I realized I had accidentally created the conditions to draw out dormant creativity and create permission to fail. This is the framework built around that accident.
To create a Collected Topography, I incorporate a combination of time-based drawing prompts, cardinal directions, warmups, and precious personal artifacts. Ideally the piece is performed in a park with loved ones, however it has also been performed at institutions, studio spaces, and in a Zoom window.
This was piece was additionally presented with Skillhaus (2025), Parsons TIME Undergraduate class (2025), and Cornish College of the Arts Immersive Narrative Environments (2025) .
This is an ongoing series.
Email me if you’d like to make one together.
See the work at New Art City
See my lecture