FONSI is an ongoing series of photographs (2014 - current) made in response to the Accumulations project. Upon returning to a given campsite following long, late night exposures and drives, I would once again stage my camera nearby and open up a two-hour long exposure. During this time, I would wander the vicinity and collect several discarded objects such as furniture, clothing, miscellaneous detritus, and other industrially or naturally manufactured items laid to a sleepless rest on the desert floor, in rest under moonlight. I would then perform for the camera while improvising a still life of sorts, consisting of the otherwise unrelated goods during each exposure. Without the aid of viewing through the ground glass, there are varying degrees of compositional crudeness and grace, negotiating questions of chance and happenstance with desire, possibility, and ultimate control. Certain objects have more or less visual presence in the compositions, depending on the percentage of the overall exposure that they lay fixed in the scene.
All of the found things were then carted to my hometown of Los Angeles to be donated, discarded, or made use of accordingly.
The acronym FONSI (Finding of No Significant Impact) comes from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. For their purposes, it is a document that illustrates the reasons why it has been concluded that a given federal action would have no significant environmental impact projected, due to the implementation of such an action in an area. This Environmental Assessment would determine whether or an Environmental Impact Statement would then be prepared for further consideration of that action.