Jacob Riddle: WILDENING
“My time in Castle Butte Lookout was interesting in relation to material because I was working very digitally in a place with no electricity. ”
Summer II 2024 Artist-in-Residence at Castle Butte Lookout with the Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Breakfast view from Castle Butte Lookout.
Describe your Open AIR Residency experience.
My residency location was Castle Butte Lookout in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest, likely miles from the nearest human 90% of the time I was there. After meeting with the Open AIR and Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation crew in Missoula, I picked up some final supplies and then drove south on 12 out of town. Turning up FR 107 and leaving the pavement behind was when the residency felt like it started; everything beyond that point was new. The drive up to the lookout was about an hour and a half from the pavement, while the roads were rough I honestly had anticipated them being harder to navigate. A couple miles from the lookout during a slight descent I caught the first glimpse of what would soon be my home and studio for the next 3 weeks. I can not describe the feelings I had when unpacking my truck when I arrived; it all felt unreal. I slowly transformed that roughly 14’x14’ perch with windows along all four sides into my own little sanctuary. The central table became my little studio space where I 3d scanned bent, rusty nails and other small forms from the surrounding area. Stacks of books beside my bed, I started my days sitting outside the lookout, drinking my coffee and reading, frequently before getting dressed for the day. The solitude was maddening in a very positive way, wildening might be more fitting. From the first day, I began exploring the area, seeking a more intimate connection with the land and space I was temporarily a part of; this was my community there. I found springs, berries, small furry friends and some larger furry acquaintances. I found meadows to nap in, stream (or ditches) to bath in, and old long forgotten roads and trails to explore. For a few days, I wondered how I would pass the time and I worried about being alone that long. That did not last long. I quickly found all of it comforting, healing, inspiring. I explored the days and the nights, watched meteors streak through the sky, lightning ignite a tree, and I soaked in the nearby hot springs. I am beginning to ramble, I’ll leave it here.
A tree ignited by lightning, as seen from the Lookout.
What were the major creative challenges during your residency, and how did you resolve them?
Oddly enough, one of the biggest creative challenges I encountered during the residency was getting old, bent, rusty nails to stand up on my turntable to be photographed for photogrammetry. I had been mindlessly gathering and straightening these old nails I found on the ground around the lookout. As I found myself more drawn to the texture of the rust and the shapes of the nails I decided I would 3d scan them. The first night I tried I would not figure out a way to get them to stand upright for the best scan. I remembered I had superglue in my minimal first aid kit but oddly the CA glue seemed to react with the rust and started to melt the plastic turntable instead of adhering to it. That night as I was starting to fall asleep feeling a bit defeated, I remembered a sticky sensation on my fingers earlier that day, sap. The next morning I started to think about the sap I remembered. Pine pitch is often used as a glue. That day I collected chunks of pine resin as I hiked and that night I melted that down and used the pine pitch as a glue to hold the nails up right for scanning. I have since been experimenting with using the same pine resin as a casting material, not just a glue.
Jacob’s live/work space at the Lookout.
A found bent nail held up with tree sap in preparation for 3D scanning.
Were there moments that surprised you or shifted your process?
Yes, all of them.
Jacob in front of Castle Butte Lookout.
How have your material choices changed over the years?
My material choices have been in a constant state of flux through the years. I have found myself pausing on particular materials in nearly obsessive ways for periods of time, OSB for example. My time in Castle Butte Lookout was interesting in relation to material because I was working very digitally in a place with no electricity. This was fun and challenging for me, making me be very careful and considered in my use of these tools, charging my battery bank with solar during the day, waiting until dark to work on my scanning and photographing to have better control of the lighting and only being able to work for the time my battery last. During this time I found myself needing an adhesive and turning to the land around me to find that; pine pitch. I have been experimenting with that as a material now for casting as well.
A burnt tree trunk.
Sparse point cloud from a photogrammetry based on a 3D scan of a burnt tree.
What are you reading/watching/or listening to?
Currently, the world around me and the people I spend time with.
Castle Butte Lookout at night.
Tell us about your most recent solo exhibition/performance/publication.
I recently published some writing in a publication of art and writing By Light & By Darkness. Writing is not my usual creative output but during my time in Caste Butte Lookout I had a lot of thoughts and ideas that had felt very disparate finding their connections. I wrote about darkness, mechanisms behind human vision, fear, the internet, trauma, and science fiction. The title of my work was “At night, we see like prey”
Watch Jacob talk about art and curiosity!
Enjoy hearing about Jacob’s time in the wilderness in his Artist Talk!
