the River.

A certain grotesque beauty exists within the landscape of southern Louisiana, a constant churning and mixing of the souls, a subsurface cultural diversity different from the conditions above. Over its history, the environment has prevailed as a palimpsest of existence, gradients of soil deposition; throughout millennia, the meandering course of the Mississippi River has scoured the surface of the earth, rendering the land a mere plaything. The mouth and river delta have repeatedly shifted and in so doing, have left traces of geological histories embedded within the foundations of the state.

This history lies dormant, buried beneath the tides and currents, the beauty shadowed by the muddy waters and the people on the surface blinded by the darkness. The forceful witness to development and change over epochs, the Mississippi River is the lens which magnifies and corrects those conditions. The unabashed coalescence of endless miles of place has solidified itself as an unexplainable barrier, dividing the powers of multiple worlds. The actions, thoughts, ideals, and opinions fundamental to a Country lie dormant in these layers -- surfaces of past supporting a society continually less aware. The River, an omnipresent power to view, affect and alter that which it alone can see, is the viable catalyst for exposure.

Within the last hundred years, the Country has attempted to solidify the River’s course. If we cannot control our world, they say, then we can surely control our River. Previously, the changing courses of the River have varied as much as the identities now spread throughout the Country. Today, the controlled remnants of present cultures speed out into the Gulf, vanishing into the open sea. The control of the Country eradicates the barrier that formerly protected the Country itself. The Country has forgotten the beauty of existence; it now merely relies on a rigid structure of perceived authority. The River, seemingly controlled, still sees. The Country, unlike the River, is young and naive. The River has always been there, seen devastation, seen jubilation, seen horrors as well as triumphs, the fleeting moments of good and bad. The River still exists -- flowing with a wiser and more generous understanding that life and the world are beautiful.