Hughen/Starkweather

Instagram: hughen_starkweather

Website: http://hughenstarkweather.com

Statement: The work of Hughen/Starkweather explores landscapes impacted by engineered systems that control and distribute water. As this infrastructure is increasingly, inextricably woven into landscapes, how might these natural and engineered systems fail or succeed together as climate extremes exert unforeseen pressures? The artwork Bounces like an echo references atmospheric rivers, and the repeated cloud-like forms mimic the shape of California as an island as rendered in a 1666 Dutch map. The work Coastal squeeze references the global increase in seawall construction to protect shoreline homes and infrastructures as tides rise and storms intensify. The unintended consequences of this shoreline armoring include pushing water and wave energy to neighboring areas, disrupting the natural replenishment of sand on beaches until they narrow or vanish, and increased inland mining/ocean dredging of sand to replenish the beaches, which leads to further disruption of ecosystems.