May 28, 2000 elevation 1920'

While wandering the abandoned mining camp in search of a site and inspiration, I found myself drawn to this dry stack stone retaining wall. As I examined the wall, I found a section where the wall had partially collapsed and a human footpath had developed in the fallen dirt. As I started draping fabric on the wall, the attraction to it became clear to me: I had been deeply moved by the description of two serious dam breaks which occurred as part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct project where many lives were lost. I grew up in Los Angeles and was shocked to learn of this as an adult - it's a well kept secret and certainly never made it into any of the California history lessons I had in elementary school. This installation is a re-creation of one of the dam breaks.