TL:DR
If you’re not familiar with the acronym TL:DR, it means “Too Long: Didn’t Read.” Daniel Worth, the multi-discipline artist from Australia who created this stone carving has connections to Santa Fe, including previously attending Tuesday Night Drawing.
During a visit to Santa Fe in June, 2022, Dan placed this stone-carved meme on the ground between The Tea House on Canyon Road and the public parking lot next door. Dan has left stone carvings similar to this — a variety of emojis and acronyms — in random locations around the world, in hopes that someone will stumble upon them.
On a recent visit (November 2023) to The Tea House for breakfast I looked for the stone and thought someone must have taken it. But it was there, broken into several pieces and turned over. I placed the pieces back together so that the carving now has an authentic ancient look. If you happen to be on Canyon Road, look for it.
Dan places his stone carving on the path between The Tea House and the parking lot.
By writing in stone in the digital age Daniel Worth is creating a physical record of how we communicate when most communication is electronic and ephemeral. Most letter carving in stone is of a serious nature. Worth’s intention is to go against this tradition by focusing on ways we communicate via text using acronyms and emojis.
Dan’s stone meme has now somehow moved from the bottom of the short stone wall to the top of the wall.
To see an example of this original technique of performance art, watch this 27 second video of Dan on the bank of the Thames River in London.
You can see more Daniel Worth art on Instagram: @danielworthart
