Sculptor Dan Pooley‘s ‘Road Gator Fossil’ takes the form of a blown-out tyre carved in Devon metamorphic marble as a physical manifestation of the Anthropocene: a technofossil that may one day be found in our future strata and serve as a reminder of our impact on the environment, coastal erosion and the fragility of life.
All our materials will break down, get impacted, and some objects will become fossilised within it. The Road Gator is a technofossil. It imagines what these pieces of shredded tyre would look like once settled into the layer of stone as reminders of who we were.
Dan Pooley is a sculptor whose work is inspired by the coast — a place that symbolises our frailty on personal and environmental levels — and reflects on our Anthropocene legacy.
The Road Gator Fossil is a physical manifestation of the Anthropocene. It is a technofossil that may one day be found in the rock strata. Carved from Devon marble from the coast, it is a reminder of our impact on the environment, coastal erosion and the fragility of life.
Road Gator
A Road Gator is a shredded piece of tyre. It is an American term used because of the reptilian look of these fragments. They can be seen along the side of the road on the A30 and A38 running through Devon. They are blown-out tyres that in a violent moment have been ripped apart, scattered at the side, and settled into the verges like extinct beasts. They are a reminder of our vehicles, our materials and our technologies.
Technofossil
A technofossil is a geological term for the fossils that would be found in the Anthropocene as a layer of stone in the rocks’ strata. The Anthropocene is the current Geological age when humans have become the dominant influence on our climate. When this age is over it will become a layer of stone in the rocks strata. All our materials will break down, get impacted, and some objects will become fossilised within it. The Road Gator is a technofossil. It imagines what these pieces of shredded tyre would look like once settled into the layer of stone as reminders of who we were.
Stone
As a sculptor in Devon I take inspiration from the South Devon coastline where I have had to overcome tragedy and come to terms with the fragility of life. My stone carvings started as small pieces carved from pebbles. As I searched the beaches for pebbles, I found beautiful pieces of marble, red like the Jurassic coastline. I found out these were Devon Marble which was quarried and used in many of our historic buildings. It is a metamorphic rock, formed as the Anthropocene will be. When I work the stone I feel connected to the coastline but am always aware that life is fragile and we should take care of what we have.
Notes
You can read the story of — and watch — Dan working on ‘Road Gator’, the coastal place and the material that inspires him, in Carving the Anthropocene on his website. You can also find more on his work on technofossils, land art, and more at his site, and his research paper Artefacts from the Anthropocene.