SANDSTONE CASTLES OF THE SOUTHWEST

Описание: Here at the crossroads of the Great Sage Plain lay the ruins of a most remarkable prehistoric Puebloan site called Hovenweep. Its abandoned beauty captivates my curiosity about the origins of such high quality craftsmanship left behind by these ancient builders. We spent several chemtrail-free days exploring the architecture of these vast castle walls & 3-story-tall towers whose foundations arch reverently with the land, or what is left of them. And then there is the rubble, thousands of augmented blocks, some in piles, scattered 20-miles across this dry, harsh terrain - utterly obliterated. What could have caused so much destruction?

To help answer this question my artist’s lens turns to the architecture & design as a way of identifying them through time. Hovenweep bears striking resemblance to so many other Dark Age castle structures & fortifications, most notably those found in the deserts of North Africa & the Middle East. From the citadels of Cairo to the lesser known castle complexes in Zimbabwe, every stone block, every mortar spread is evidence of shared masonry knowledge that somehow made it across thousands of nautical leagues - centuries before Columbus ever sailed the ocean blue. Or was it the other way around?

I continue to be mind-blown by all the structures of the old world that share similar qualities here in North America’s great Southwest as well across the planet - archetypal designs emerging throughout different cultures in similar times. I believe that this land I inhabit has always been, since ancient times, a melting pot of various peoples who bleed red. #hovenweep