Using a grid-based design process, I create site-specific installations of hundreds of landscaping/utility marker flags. Over time, the elements of air and water undermine these orderly arrangements: the steel stakes rust, the flags are undone by the breeze.

Pink, 2021, landscaping flags, 8-10" x 82" x 118"

Pink seemed to emerge fully-formed from underneath our plum tree this spring.

Pink: other views
Sluice, 2020, landscaping flags, 12" x 48" x 192"

Blue landscaping flags sluice across the lawn, dropping from 12" to 8" at the apex of this site-specific installation. When the wind ruffles the 500+ flags, it's like water coursing over the landscape.

Sluice: other views
Water Hole, 2020, Landscaping flags, 8" x 156" x 48"

The 600+ flags in this installation are like a troop of characters marking time in response to the wind. The title plays off the meaning of the flag colors in their everyday use on construction sites, where blue signifies "potable water" and white signifies "proposed excavation."

Water Hole: other view


All images copyright Nancy D. Brown

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