WanderLost Compass, 2019
Birch plywood, compass, magnets, ball bearings
2 3/4 diameter x 1H inches

WanderLost Compass serves as both an object for self-reflection and implement for wandering. By rotating two rings the participant can create different combinations of the words Wander and Wonder with Lust, Last, and Lost, creating prompts for reflection and short, materialized poems. Each word has a magnet embedded below it so that as different phrases are formed the compass’s indication of North changes, making direction dependent on the subjective state of the individual rather than the external magnetic fields of the earth. The work asks the question of what ways direction exists as externalized force, inward sentiment, or something else entirely.

The compasses can exist within a gallery as a physical, interactive object or additional compasses can be checked out for a visitor to use in their life more generally.