Rocky Futures presented the work of fourteen artists through nine live online performances at the 2023 Global Humanities Conference (GMHC) and the Annual Conference of the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility (T2M), held in Seoul, Korea, on October 26–27, 2023. Organized by Rocky Climates—an artists’ network founded by Rebecca Birch, Sarah Casey, and Jen Southern that brings together artists and researchers concerned with the temporal, spatial, cultural, and environmental instabilities of rocky landscapes—Rocky Futures explored how geological matter moves and transforms across deep time and contemporary infrastructures.
For her contribution to Rocky Futures, Holly Veselka guided viewers through a digitized world of Karst limestone in Central Texas, using virtual mapping, 3D modeling, and simulated aerial photography to reveal the ecological and cultural impact of mining for concrete production. About this work, Tim Edensor writes:
“More substantive, machine-driven mobilities are part of the immense operations to extract lithic matter that were supercharged during the industrial revolution. Such extractions are now recognised as fundamental to the climate crisis that we confront. Holly Veselka deploys virtual mapping, 3-D modeling and simulated aerial photography to explore how the spectacular Karst limestone landscape at San Marcos, Texas, is being devastated by extensive mining for lime for concrete production, erasing its distinctive features and effacing the rich myths that focus upon this poetic and mysterious permeable realm, with its underworlds and channels. Veselka seeks to reintroduce a sense of mystery through the glitches and absences generated through photogrammetry.” (Moving Rocks, Rocks on the Move, 2024)
For her contribution to Rocky Futures, Holly Veselka guided viewers through a digitized world of Karst limestone in Central Texas, using virtual mapping, 3D modeling, and simulated aerial photography to reveal the ecological and cultural impact of mining for concrete production. About this work, Tim Edensor writes:
“More substantive, machine-driven mobilities are part of the immense operations to extract lithic matter that were supercharged during the industrial revolution. Such extractions are now recognised as fundamental to the climate crisis that we confront. Holly Veselka deploys virtual mapping, 3-D modeling and simulated aerial photography to explore how the spectacular Karst limestone landscape at San Marcos, Texas, is being devastated by extensive mining for lime for concrete production, erasing its distinctive features and effacing the rich myths that focus upon this poetic and mysterious permeable realm, with its underworlds and channels. Veselka seeks to reintroduce a sense of mystery through the glitches and absences generated through photogrammetry.” (Moving Rocks, Rocks on the Move, 2024)
Still from Quarries: San Antonio to Austin, 2023, 6:52, HD video, courtesy Google Earth Studio and the artist