Thesis Defence: Laura Woodall

This thesis situates the practice of rubbing within the context of an immediate geological feature in Southern Ontario, the Niagara Escarpment, as a site that is admired for its natural and productive qualities. Adverse to extractive and consumptive attitudes about geological expression, I engage in a discourse that centers nuanced encounters and temporal spectrums at the scale of the hand. Over the span of four seasons, I conduct multiple rubbings along the cliff face informed by multisensorial instincts as observation and inquiry. Allowing my sense of touch and curiosity to guide me, I open myself to an ecological dialogue with the material of stone through listening to the interactive elements. Temperature, humidity, and weather movements are captured within the rubbing process. Traces of flora, human markings, and rock deposits are captured within the paper and resultant rubbing.

I navigate the Niagara Escarpment through memory, exploring rubbing sites through personal landmarks integral to my understanding of the importance of forming interspecies relationships. Adapted from the practice of Chinese rubbings, I choose to experiment with the technical and affective elements of this rubbing process to exercise my observational lens. I explore ideas of placemaking through my intention to reconcile with my heritage and the landscape that is formative to my perspectives on materialism and my approach to spatial expression.

Translating Encounters with Stone encourages the observation of interelemental exchanges with rock to decentralize acts of human-led practices. In doing so, this act provokes a case for immersive non-human led practices of material engagement. As an approach to reconciling ecological intimacy within a society of stone, rubbing acts to strengthen the environment-human relationship in the natural and built environments we engage.