My favorite group of images downloaded from the now defunct Visual Images Database of the USACE Mississippi Valley Division.









All of which begs the creation of an Artist-in-Residence Program at the Army Corps of Engineers. Imagine what hydrological labyrinths would Mary Miss have constructed. Or what cryptographic alluvial hagiography of the Mississippi would Robert Smithson have written; the encryption key is in the meanders. Michael Heizer in coitus at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory meets John Deer meets ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik. And perhaps Cai Guo-Qiang in collaboration with Naoya Hatakeyama might be permitted the use of a small nuclear warhead.

In the Archives:
Notes on Some Selections from the Visual Images Database of the Mississippi Valley Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers