In January of 2004, through a successful eBay bid for a piece of land site unseen, 1975 eteam dollars turned into 10 acres of personal U.S. property.
The lot, a generic square within the larger American grid of townships, is located in the desert of Nevada. The closest settlement, Montello, “The town that refuses to die,” is eight miles away, and the almost abandoned airbase Wendover, at the edge of the Salt Flats, is located about 30 miles SE. It’s the 10-acre lot and its surroundings that started our search for solutions to problems, which were created by big systems that had made some small mistakes. Through looking, talking to people, listening, measuring, meandering, mapping, modeling, testing and reading we try understand the (mis)-calculations of land surveyors, residues of the military, the appearance of dead cows and the existence of a “public road” that goes right through the center of our lot. We draw connections, test methods to “overcome,” attempt to build bridges and movable overpasses. Things add up and with the help of the town’s people of Montello, NV turn into an “Artificial Traffic Jam,” which temporarily seems to solve all problems.
single channel video, 50min, 2005
music by Andrew MC Kenna Lee and Bobby Previte
for exhibition copies contact Video Data Bank in Chicago
“In The Paradox of the 10 Acre Square, again, the eteam purchase land, but this time they attempt to prevent traffic flow across their property on a road that runs right through it. While the concept of this video seems at odds with that of 1.1 Acre, isolation as opposed to community building, the eteam are consistently concerned with the stop and flow of traffic and how structures can be used to manipulate the manner in which people move and interact.
Or are they? You may wonder, What is the point? Is the Paradox that the purpose of the second video undermines that of the first? Or, that to wonder what is the point is the point? Are they laughing at you? Still, you may become obsessed with their satellite mapping, the increasing absurdity of their projects, their soundtracks, which contend in charm with those of Mark Mothersbaugh, or their casual engagement of aircraft. ” – excerpt from: A New Frontier of Virtual Value and Stetsons, by Rozalia Jovanovic, 2009 for The Rumpus