Ben Altman: The More That Is Taken Away
Ben Altman's multiple-year earthwork, performance and meditation "The More That Is Taken Away" uses the mass grave as its central image and spectacle. The work is loosely divided into three acts, documented in black and white photographs and in extensive video. In Act 1, shown in this exhibition, Altman hand-excavates interlocking linear shapes in his own backyard. Weathering deforms the site; he makes repeated repairs and modifications. The end point of the excavation is a rectangular pit, 60 feet by 10 feet and five feet deep.
