Nosce te ipsum.*
This installation celebrates the profound impact the Eisenhower Interstate System (United States National Highway System) has had on our society. The enormous extent and depth of this cultural impact is rarely understood. 160,000 miles of roadway is so large that it is paradoxically easy to ignore at a personal level. However when considered simultaneously in physical, sociological, political, economic, psychological, environmental and scientific terms, the system's profound influence on our daily lives becomes visible.
The installation is organized into specific areas of influence and then analyzed chronologically. For instance one can consider the system in terms of travel efficiency and discover the effect this efficiency has had on shaping small towns and large cities in the past and most interestingly projections toward the future. Each of these areas has highlighted segments that together assemble a holistic understanding of the impact of the Eisenhower Interstate System.
One of the most critical challenges our society faces is the sustainability of resources. Considering the consumption of material required to build and maintain the National Highway System, we must find sustainable means of managing this system. The design of this installation makes this point in dramatic fashion in the form of a conceptual model of a high tech highway surface. "Plasphalt" is an experimental roadway surface that uses unrecyclable plastic within its aggregate that is highly resilient. This material transforms what would normally be considered garbage relegated to landfills, into a smooth and durable roadway surface. 1,537 plastic bottles are stacked to form a luminous surface within the aluminum trailer. This surface is activated with an LED system that provides light and creates a sense of motion within the exhibit. The glow from these bottles, and their symbolic importance for our future, is cast upon all of the information within the exhibit and most importantly all those who experience the 50th anniversary of the Eisenhower Interstate System.
*know thyself