Edgelands Research — To Lay in the Plastic Grass

This series documents dioramas in natural history museums, national park visitor centers, and zoos. These cultural and scientific institutions assert authority over the representation of wilderness. By naming these different habitats, sectioning them off from each other, and claiming an objectivity in the creation of these rigid categories, humans are separated from “natural” environments. These habitats are to be looked at, but not interacted with. They are to be experienced and managed, but not inhabited. Furthermore, these dioramas are not value-neutral; they reveal a set of beliefs that have led us to construct the ideal landscape. It is not a habitat but a scenery. These photographs are meant to confuse the viewer's perception of the authenticity of these scenes. Like the dioramas, these photographs have a static, inorganic existence—unmoving, unchanging, and untouchable.