Estuary/Toxi*City
"So many of the areas one sees in satellite imaging are just raised, scarred lots where nothing will grow, where there are clearly problems; but we don’t know what those problems are. And so how does one find that out?"—Roderick Coover
Last Volcano, 2010.
"What is the landscape made of? Concrete, trees, bushes, tanks, old houses, new houses. What’s there?"—Roderick Coover
 
Estuary/Toxi*City

"So many of the areas one sees in satellite imaging are just raised, scarred lots where nothing will grow, where there are clearly problems; but we don’t know what those problems are. And so how does one find that out?"—Roderick Coover

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By Roderick Coover

Estuary/Toxi∙City is the work of director and artist Roderick Coover. Estuary, a large-format book, and Toxi∙City, a digital video installation, take on the past, present, and future of waterways like the Delaware and Thames rivers.

Concepts behind Estuary/Toxi•City

Roderick Coover discusses the ideas behind his work Estuary/Toxi•City.

The estuaries of both rivers provided rich fodder for a sensory experience of the impact of climate change and chemical pollutants on our waters and landscapes. How do we construct and understand our changing landscapes? How do we adjust to the future of our landscapes, and how do we modify them?

Credits

Estuary, 2013

Artist book by Roderick Coover, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Database research assistant: Conor Hafertepe

Field-research assistants: Julisa Basak, Chad Bevins, Conor Hafertepe, Paul Hinson, Bruce Byker James, Max Marin, Nate Quinn, Nicole Rothschild, and Chad Sims

Toxi•City, 2013

Director/artist: Roderick Coover

Script: Scott Rettberg

Sound technician: Joseph Kraemer

Cast: Aram Aghazarian, Don Anstock, Kamili Feelings, Alice Gatling, Cynthia Geonnotti, Steve Geonnotti, Saskia Hargrove, Chris Monaco, and Chris Whelan

 

Landscapes from Maps and Memories

Roderick Coover discusses how he incorporates current and outdated maps and memories of places into his panoramic pieces.

 

Roderick Coover’s work spans films, interactive cinema, installations, webworks, and published papers. Coover uses experimental documentary methods and new digital media to uncover the places where social sciences, humanities, technology, and memory intersect. In an interview with our staff Coover reflected on the creation of Estuary/Toxi•City, on how we construct and modify the landscapes of our memory, and on his own work process. Learn more about Coover at roderickcoover.com. 

View all clips from our interview with Roderick Coover.

 

How can you travel to places you can’t physically go or to times you can’t physically go to, and pull those stories and make them your own?