In a culture that deems itself 'mega' everything, the dream is to one day to own a plot of soil covered with grass. The private micro world is encapsulated by a fence for protection from the outside vices. Hard work yields the symbols of achievement; the green grass growing, the foliage sprouting, the personal possessions placed on the land. When the time comes, it usually being weekends, the cathartic exercise known as yard work becomes the primary focus. Essential elements to the process are trimming the foliage to perfection, nurturing the objects surrounding the home, refining the facade of the home, and most importantly grooming the green grass encompassing the house. Beautifying the micro climate erected inside a labyrinth of fences which makes up the fabric of this vast suburban superquilt of a country is a joyful past time for most Americans. They look proudly at the clean cut grass spreading out beneath their feet, evenly cut to perfection. It represents success. We mow the little plot of green surrounded by sidewalks, asphalt, and all kinds of barriers and divides. That is mine, this is yours, keep off, private property! We try to individualize ourselves through the idea of territory, but do we really need this to validate our existence as human beings and if so why?

I plan to mow lawns at random from San Francisco to New York in hopes of celebrating the very nature of such a banal phenomenon. I am questioning why this country has become a civilization comprised of rows of perfectly cut squares of grass. My goal is to come to some sort of understanding, why and how we as a culture have gone from a neglected and unexplored territory to a grid of perfectly manicured lawns.

The documentation of this project should offer all of us as a people a simple and humorous insight into our obsessions with space and territory and how we have isolated ourselves from one another by means of fences and self described barriers that vaguely define us as individuals. The idea of attachment to place, a lawn is a metaphor for this. In my exploration from coast to coast I will explore the variations of attachment to place through private lawns.