Cuttyhenge, 2025

Solar calendar earthwork, 9 large white glacial erratic rocks
36 feet in diameter
Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts

Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Island chain located off the southern coast of Massachusetts. The island is approximately 1 1/2 miles long and 3/4 mile wide, and home to an estimated year-round population of 10-20 residents, growing to around 400 during the summer months. In 1602, the island was the site of a small outpost for harvesting sassafras for a few weeks making it arguably the first English settlement in New England.

I installed Cuttyhenge early in the morning of September 12, 2025, the day after I arrived by ferry on the island, and had five subsequent days to document it with photos and videos at various times of the day and under differing weather conditions. I left the island on the morning of September 17. 

The specific location I scouted and selected for this work was mostly flat, level, and most importantly, had a sublime 180+ degree view of the Vineyard Sound / Atlantic Ocean with due east more or less at its center.

The beaches on Cuttyhunk are raw and wild in nature, and covered with glacial erratic rocks left behind by the retreat of glaciers from the last Ice Age. The specific rocks I used for this project were sourced from the beach directly below the site and were all large, smooth, whitish in color, and slightly iridescent, which I though would also be good for visibility at night. The rocks were the largest I could physically carry by myself up from the beach to the flat plateau above overlooking the ocean.

I used very simple tools to create this piece including a compass and a found fishing rope (as a rudimentary tape measure) that I cut from a wrecked lobster pot on the beach below. The individual rocks were placed at the precise locations of the four cardinal directions (north, east, south, west), as well as the rising and setting of the sun on the horizon during the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice.

This artwork is located on the island of Poocuohhunkkunnah (Cuttyhunk’s original name), the ancestral homeland of the Wampanoag people, and I respectfully acknowledge their past and present cultural and spiritual connection to this area.