THE INSTITUTE OF MARKING AND MEASURING  
  PROJECTS ABOUT EPHEMERA  
       
   

"Since there is no definite way to locate such a point, it would be best to ignore it entirely . . . the conclusion is forced upon us that there is no such thing as the geographical center of any state, country, or continent . . . This is a case in which all may differ but all be right."
–– Oscar S. Adams, Senior Mathematician for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
These centers attest to a persistent need to find the center point of a country or continent, in order to point to "the heart," "the middle," or "the hub" of a place. Each relies on a conceit––whether in the physical act of finding a balance point or in the approximation of the shape of the Earth. The effort to name and locate a center affirms a periphery. Because of the many ways to define both the periphery and the center, and because of the gap that always remains between an idealized representation and the physical facts on the ground, any precise center point is difficult to determine definitively. It exists in many places––one of which is here, in Lebanon, Kansas.
Click to play film Centers by Rotation Films
 
view of the Geographical Center of the Contiguous U.S. facing west
Finding Center workshop at the Salina Art Center Warehouse
 
 
    Centers of the USA
   

Jesse Vogler
Louis Schalk
with
The Center for Land Use Interpretation

Collaborators
Hub Club of Lebanon, Kansas
Belle Fourche Chamber of Commerce
Salina Art Center
Kanza House Historical Society
Szu-Han Ho
Erin Hudson, Rotation Films

Exhibit
Center of the Contiguous US
August, 2010 - August 2011

Centers Tour
Population Center 2010
Center of the Nation
Center of the 49 States
August 8-14, 2011

CLUI, Los Angeles
November 2011-January 2012

Kanza House Historical Society
August 2011 - present

Field Sessions
Artist Talk
August 5, 2010
Salina Art Center

Finding Center
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Salina Art Center Warehouse

Press
Los Angeles Times
Domus
High Country News

Special Thanks
Phyllis Bell
Lori Ladow
Chris Cook, Salina Art Center
Anne Nettleton
Rob Pickerell
Dan Torop