Reconnecting to Home

Technology has made California a global icon. However, for billions of people over the last thousand years, California has simply been a place they call “home”. Reconnecting to Home celebrates California’s reputation both as the center of Silicon Valley as well as its more overlooked innovations: the resourcefulness required to transform California’s native resources into homes.

This sculpture layers the histories of people who have lived on this land. Inside the tower, Pebworth spoofs California technology through “snail mail” versions of social media platforms. “Selfies” become hand-drawn self-portraits. Emoticons, hand-drawn on ping pong balls, pop through the levels. The top of the tower references both mining shafts as well as cell phone towers, two drivers that changed California forever. Pebworth plays with all of these references to redirect our attention to what “home” might mean. Is home a “homepage?” Or is home a place where we connect with our loved ones? The tower offers opportunities for open-ended play, exploration and discovery of California’s real “gold”: the connections we have with each other.