Artist Statement

Presented by New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

Gila 2.0 visual signage is displayed at the Gila Wilderness trailheads or roadside, and in other graphical formats. The focus of the signage is the reintroduced Mexican Wolf, centrally positioned in the nature/culture debate that arises when interests (non human as well as human) intersect. Seen either as the endangered poster child for native wilderness or as a competing predator, the Mexican Wolf coexists with landowners, livestock, game hunters, pets, and ecotourists. The signage leverages native “prehistoric” Mimbres/Mogollon designs -the animistic and geometric pottery that has become a graphic signature for the Southwest- and uses tracking data gathered from the radio-collared wolves, in order to visualize the complex set of relationships that comprise a contemporary ecosystem.

• MARINA ZURKOW  is a media artist focused on near-impossible nature and culture intersections. She  is the recipient of a 2011 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship.  o-matic.com