Marissa Lee Benedict and David Rueter

Single-channel video installation on modular LED display, 7-channel audio played through transducers that vibrate elements of the site

According to an account by Francis Fletcher written in the 1580’s (The World Encompassed), the crew of Sir Francis Drake’s expedition to the West Coast of what is now the United States, Drake left behind “a plate” to serve as England’s claim to the “kingdom” of North America. A brass plate matching Drake's description was discovered in the San Francisco Bay area in the 1930s and promptly acquired by UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library. Though later determined to be a forgery, the plate remains housed in the library's vault alongside the collection's most valuable objects. Administrative records spanning 1975-2000—totaling 3.25 feet—document the institution's attempts to authenticate the plate through metallurgic and semiotic analysis. These documents provide the raw material for this work.

Marissa Lee Benedict and David Rueter