“Near by is the graceful loop of an old dry creek bed. The new creek bed is ditched straight as a ruler; it has been ‘uncurled’ by the county engineer to hurry the run-off. On the hill in the background are contoured strip-crops; they have been ‘curled’ by the erosion engineer to retard the run-off. The water must be confused by so much advice.” —Aldo Leopold

Sand County Almanac & Sketches Here & There, originally published in 1949, is often considered an early study and critique of the environmental movement. The title of this paper installation is inspired by the above passage from the chapter “Illinois and Iowa”, where Leopold describes the artificial curling and uncurling of waterways he has witnessed, giving the water itself the agency to be confused by the conflicting messages it is receiving from the humans trying to manage it. 

The Missouri River is considered the longest river in the United States at approximately 2,341 miles in length. However, due to human manipulation in the last 300 years, it has been shortened by approximately 200 miles. While natural changes like periodic flooding and meanders have always occurred throughout the river system, dredging, channelization, and dam building have irrevocably altered the course of the river and the lands around it in the twentieth century. Maciuba’s current interest in the Missouri River parallels Leopold's 1949 study of the prairie-turned-farm-fields of Illinois and Iowa. In this work, she uses laser-cut abstractions of the Missouri River, native prairie plants, silt fencing, patterns of center-pivot irrigation, barbed wire, and construction fencing to illustrate these large-scale physical changes on the landscape and how they impact the environment and communities within the watershed. Her goal is to create conversation about our past attempts to control the natural world around us and future attempts to mend and adapt to the landscape we have created.