Each ovoid, 3/4" thick layer of 'CPI' is one year. The dimension of the vertical axis of the ovals was determined by the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food for that year, and the horizontal axis by the CPI for gasoline plus electricity. The rising line through the center of the sculpture is based on the CPI for housing. The long, flat 'snout' represents the 1960's when housing costs and food (per my memory) were steady and low. Fuel got slightly more expensive over the decade but the big blowup occurs at the area of the large bulge above the snout. That's 1973 - OPEC, gasoline lines, the whole mess. Thereafter the cost of most everything kept rising. This greatly oversimplifies the history but I came away from the investigation with both a better understanding of the history, and a sculpture.
digital rendering
