[detailed resume]	Nolan Simon Artist Statement What makes art so special? What makes the things on the walls and the objects on the pedestals more worth looking at than other objects? Is a concrete slab intended as art more interesting than one intended as a patio? If I find a non-art object beautiful, and recreate is as art is it any more or less beautiful? These are the issues I'm dealing with in my recent work. The story of this particular piece takes place in Ferndale, where I occupy the role of pizza delivery boy. This summer my job was made more interesting by the partial closure of one of Ferndale's larger streets due to road work. Something that quickly became apparent to me was that if a portion of the road didn't need to be removed, no matter how small, it remained untouched. In my many attempts to find the fastest routes to my deliveries, I happened upon an interesting moment in the pocked ashvault. A rectangular portion of an intersection was removed, but with a peninsula of street left untouched in the middle of the hole. The hole was refilled half way with concrete, leaving a small section of earth peaking out to catch a breath of suburbia. The clean off-white concrete looked like the pure perfect road that the ashvault was trying to hide. I imagined this pristine road stretching for miles just under the warn surface of the ashvault. This is the memory I'm attempting to build from in this piece. I want to also take an opportunity to thank Phaedra and Aaron for allowing me the opportunity (and space) to create such an ambitious piece, and for being such amazing friends. And, I'd like to thank my Irish Potato Diggers for helping me dig through the cast iron that tries to pass itself off as dirt in the Sculpture Garden. Your help made this installation possible. -Nolan Simon