River Reconnaissance is the culmination of our incredibly talented Virginia Center for the Book members over two years.
Members worked together to create a beautifully bound faux scientific field journal.
It was filled with fictitious accounts of what could be discovered along the banks of the Rivanna River due to climate change.
The limp-bound journal contains 9 separate recordings printed in various techniques, from etching to relief, to digital, collage, and much more.
The cover features a canvas over-cover that was dyed using mud from the Rivanna Riverbanks and is held fast with a dark brown elastic band and a stamped copper tag. The whole was printed predominantly in a deep drown to reflect the sometimes dark waters of our local river.
Its pages utilize a paper that carries minute bits of included vegetation similar to the way our river transports detritus in its ever-moving waters.
Its subject material covers lost treasures unearthed, lost landscapes exposed, lost life forms revealed, and lost memories recovered.
We were inspired by the thoughts of these unexpected finds.
View the Rivanna Reconnaissance project slideshow on the Center’s YouTube channel
Concept
As a result of profound climate change, newly revealed archaeological and paleontological finds are surfacing along the banks of the Rivanna River.
We created a scientific field journal cataloging these incidences in a fictional case study.
Lost treasures unearthed, lost landscapes exposed, lost life forms revealed or revived, lost memories recovered – we are moved by these unexpected finds.
Our fictional field journal contains many examples of these newly uncovered discoveries.
A limited number of editioned copies of River Reconnaissance are available for sale, please contact Garrett Queen gsqueen@virginia.edu
