Monthly Statement:
October 2005
This month I obtained permission to sweep the Pima County Superior Courthouse and subversively "cleaned" an area of the Arizona State Fair.

It was a week long process gaining official access to the Courthouse. Had I attempted to subversively sweep, I'm pretty sure my dust pan passing through the metal detector would have produced suspicion. Dave, the Community Relations Coordinator, and Dennis, from Facilities Management at the PCSC, were my escorts as I swept. They were genuinely interested in why I was looking for dust and Dennis joked that I would always be welcome in his home. Dave photographed me being photographed by my "assistant" and apparently the event will be included in the Courthouse's internal monthly newsletter. The security guards on duty were particularly helpful at directing me to the accumulated dust under the X-ray machines and they made a real effort to stay off camera while I swept. When we first walked in one guard asked if we were from the Red Cross since we were wearing lab coats and fake ID badges. While I was sweeping I got the impression a couple of them thought they were in my way when it quite the opposite. The dust at the Courthouse was plentiful and I obtained more than enough to work with. One image of one of the dust clumps is startlingly similar to that of a generic bed-sheet ghost. Must be the time of year - I didn't intend to make a festive cloud at all.

The second site I gathered dust from was the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix. In the past, I have only been to the Minnesota State Fair and was surprised to not see fried candy bars or mac-n-cheese on a stick. Maybe those are regional treats- I was under the assumption all state fairs had such food items. I did enjoy a corndog and split a funnel cake with my wife. Dust was very elusive at the Fair. In between the 4-H livestock competitions, the ferris wheel ride and the petting zoo I had trouble locating any dust. Most of the Fair was outside and nothing more than a slight breeze will keep dust from settling. Finally, in one of the Ag Center buildings, near the Open Poultry Competition, I found small amounts in various areas and was able to combine my findings into a clump of respectable size. The dust was very fine and exceptionally soft which lead me to believe that it had accumulated over a long period of time and that it is of top quality. I'm convinced that there are traces of many years of blue ribbon-winning coats and feathers in this dust.

Process: I plan to acquire dust in two ways. Initially, I will ask for permission to sweep a chosen site and document the process. If permission is not granted or if I find myself in a place that seems to be an interesting opportunity for gathering dust, I will then obtain my accumulate in a covert fashion. This means I will inconspicuously search for dust clumps on the spot and document the site, rather than the process.

I will be gathering dust from two different places a month as my contribution to the Accumulation Project. From each bag of dust I obtain I’ll manipulate the dust bunny into different shapes and make a series of photograms on cyanotype paper. As the dust bunny assumes this new pictorial form, it takes of the appearance of a cloud in a deep blue sky and subtly forms a connection between a nuisance remainder of human existence and the ephemeral behavior of the weather overhead. Each series of “clouds” will be placed into a book that I’ve assembled specifically for that place.

Contact: sekondsight@yahoo.com