Digging It (Proverbially)

It would be easy to walk past the five grated openings in a section of field at the Storm King Art Center in Cornwall, NY. But curiosity is rewarded if you peer down through the grates to discover the 1970s-era Dynahoe tractor that artist David Brooks has carefully taken apart and buried. The piece is called "A Proverbial Machine in the Garden," an allusion to Leo Marx's, The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America (so the notes tell us). I can't decide if it's the most inane thing I've ever looked at or the most brilliant.

Here's a photo of the proverbial machine before its dismemberment and internment. You can hear the artist talk about the project at the Storm King site.