When I started thinking about this project, I was interested in the way that the military interacts with us and with our experience of the landscape. My real intention is to describe and portray - using the medium of printmaking and the format of the postcard - a series of places in New York State. These places are all sites of military operations, installations that were built and evolved in response to the Cold War and the threat of nuclear annihilation and Communist aggression. Most of these places were decommissioned during the mid-1990's, and have since fallen victim - in varying degrees - to the processes of economic, structural, and ecological entropy. With this project, I am trying to look at the resonance of this history in the (social/physical/economic) landscape, and at the relationships that brought them into being and that were formed as a result of their existence.

Click here for the project homepage

(Click on each thumbnail for a larger image)

Orangeburg
				This drive-in movie theater, itself no longer in existence, once had a Nike radar facility as its neighbor. Today the property is owned by the National Guard.
Orangeburg Drive-In, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Plattsburgh AFB
				A B-52 approaching Plattsburgh over Lake Champlain.
Plattsburgh Approach, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
				This goat - part of a project researching biotechnology - lives in a former weapons bunker at Plattsburgh.
Goat, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
				Alert barns in winter.
Alert Barns, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 6" X 4", 2006
Starr Hill Towers
				These radio towers and radome were used to conduct communications, radio, and radar experiments by the Rome Air Development Center.
Starr Hill Towers, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Knolls Atomic Laboratory
				This nuclear lab designs and tests for the navy.
Knolls Atomic Laboratory, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Verona Test Site
				The Verona Test Site was host to a large number of radar and radio tests conducted by Rome Laboratories.
Verona, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Griffiss
				This is a view looking east over the VFR landing lights on the western edge of the runway at Griffiss.
Landing Lights at Griffiss, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Floyd Test Site
				The Rome Air Development Center tested radar and satellite communications here. The very first intercontinental satellite transmission was received by an antenna at Floyd in 1960.
Floyd, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Camden Test Annex
				This piece of land was once the site of the Camden Test Annex, where the NAVARAHO system was developed.
Camden, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Au Sable Forks
				This is the site of a former Atlas Missle silo.
Au Sable Forks, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Griffiss Communications Site Two
				This site housed communications equipment and radio towers for Griffiss Air Force Base.
Communications, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Dannemora
				This is the entrance to the Dannemora Atlas Missile site, where there are stairs going down into the (now flooded) silo. The town of Dannemora, only a few miles away, is home to a maximum security prison.
Dannemora Staircase, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Fort Drum
				This is a target of some sort, located in view of the road running along the northern border of the fort.
Target, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Lewis
				This is a view looking toward the gate at the former Lewis Atlas missile silo.
Lewis Gate, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Riverview
				This is a view looking up the approach road to the former Riverview Atlas missile silo, now privately owned.
Riverview, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Stewart
				Stewart was an Air National Guard base, and is now a public airport, with a small section of the former base still operated by the military.
Stewart Road, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Willsboro
				Willsboro is a former Atlas missile base, now an art gallery and studio. This is a view looking up at a sign at the gate.
Willsboro, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Brainardsville
				Brainardsville is a former Atlas missile base. This is a view looking at it from across a field. This site is for sale.
Brainardsville, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Stratton ANGB
				Stratton Air National Guard Base is home to the 109th Airlift Wing, whose C-130 aircraft supply outposts at the North and South poles.
Stratton, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Lloyd Harbor Nike Site
				Nike site NY-20 was a typical Nike installation, housing three batteries of missiles. It was closed in 1963, and was subsequently demolished entirely. The site is currently a private residential subdivision.
Lloyd Harbor, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Oyster Bay Nike Site
				Nike site NY-23 was a typical Nike installation, housing three batteries of missiles. It remained active for eight years before being closed in 1963. The control site is now a private housing development, while the launcher area is owned by BOCES and parts are overgrown.
Oyster Bay, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Ramapo Nike Site
				Nike Site NY-99 was the northernmost installation within the former New York Defense Area. This site became operational in 1956, and remained armed until 1960, when it was transferred to the New York Army National Guard before being deactivated in 1963. Currently, the Ramapo School District owns both the control and the launch sites.
Merrill L. Colton Elementary School, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006
Seneca Weapons Depot
				The former Seneca Weapons Depot was used by the Army as a storage and disposal facility for many kinds of weapons and munitions. Several bunkers are still contaminated by radioactive nuclear waste created by the Manhattan Project. The depot is home to a large group of deer with white fur which have flourished inside the fences of the installation and now numbers around 200.
Seneca White Deer, Linocut printed on Stonehenge, 4" X 6", 2006