‘Rock is a Verb’ is a project researching summit logbooks in the Wasatch Front and facilitating the human connection created by this community in new spaces accessible to anyone.

Research

Summit Logbooks: are books that are left on top of peaks around the World to mark the accomplishment of reaching the summit. These logbooks are filled with stories of lost loved ones, poems, acknowledgments of the difficult journey, and descriptions of the beautiful places that they are left. This ritual has been taking place for decades and has led to the creation of systems in many states that are in charge of placing new logbooks and archiving full ones. However, Utah does not have a system and so it is a mystery where these logbooks are and what they contain.

Final Installation

Through my initial research and mapping of the peaks in The Wasatch Front, I selected the three peaks above to visit for myself to see what the logbooks held. Going into this field research I set out a specific process that I would follow for each of the three journeys.

I began each hike with the same purpose. Be present, notice your surroundings, and document this process along the way. By filling out my own logbook, gathering sounds, plants, and images along the way I was able to work with this material once back from my three journeys.

The Vision

At this point in my process the field research was complete. I began to create pieces too curate an experience that would act as a portal to a peak. Connecting you directly to this community by reaching a summit accessible in a new way. One that doesn’t require scrambling up thousands of feet in elevation.

The product of this research is an interactive installation. Beginning with a short hike to reach the summit of your journey; a peak created through my gathering of the experiences cultivated on peaks in The Wasatch Front. Once you reach this peak you are connected to the community that is in these hard to reach places by experiencing their words and the world they create. The result of this newly created peak is a new logbook where this experiencing can be documented by each individual who visits.