Dig to China:
Second Naiveté

We’re going to dig a hole to China.

We’re going all the way through to the other side of the world. We’re doing it for every kid who every started the job and had to give up because he was called into dinner.

The fabled "Dig to China" is one of the last truly great expeditions yet unconquered . Now its time has come.

"Dig to China" references turn of the century notions of exploration, world fairs and amazement. The work consists of two dig sites, one in the United States of American and one in China. Each is a construction of mounded dirt surrounded by a wooden scaffold structure that allows visitors to peer down into the hole all the way through to the other side of the earth.

China sees America. America sees China. Real people in real time.

The technology is available. The hole is a screen and concealed camera with a direct feed that enables the visitor to see through to the other side in real time. Imagine looking down into the ground through the center of the earth and seeing the sky on the other side or waving to someone you would not otherwise encounter.

One can not be cynical without being a romantic. We scoff at the notion of the amazing expedition not because we find it ridiculously impossible but because we need it to be true. So, we have found something so ridiculous it allows us to give ourselves to it completely with a second naiveté.