Log Cretion Artwork Proposal 2008-2013
for North Dakota

These massive log cretions are petrified castings of giant Meta-Sequoia trees from 60 million years ago.  The tree castings are up to 8 feet in diameter and about 80 feet long.  They are neatly fractured into sections, due to being under a great amount of overburden for a long time, but are continuous as they lie. 
Located by the Missouri River near Newtown, North Dakota, they have been under water for the more than 40 years, under Lake Sakakawea.  Buried for 60 million years, they were finally exposed within the last 10,000 years through erosion by the Missouri River. 
Presently, the parts of the exposed length of the log cretion have settled, fallen somewhat randomly throughout its length.  This nuance of the “accidental” presents a natural relationship between the forms.  They are to be re-assembled in the same positions/relationships as found, but elevated (‘floated’) about 24 to 30 inches off the ground on thin square steel rods.  
Or, alternatively in water, they could be elevated straight up from their present positions, so that they would ‘float’ just above the high-water elevation line of the lake, when it is full.
The artwork explores and presents the geological history of the log cretion from its origin as wood, a tree, celebrating its various changes throughout time, under a variety of conditions.