Take a seat on a teak-board bench, supported by tree logs, for a beautiful, haunting trek through the remains of a day on earth. In fact, since Thursday is Earth Day, watching Christy Gast’s video in triptych, in the cozy and quiet environs of Gallery Diet, might be a powerful way to celebrate the day. “Batty Cave” is a narrative video

that takes an actual viewing, in full, to get its real impact — at 12 minutes, this is an easy and pleasing activity.

The video is literally supported by elaborate scaffolding, made from discarded wood (which took 6 months to craft), and by other sculptural elements. “It makes a complexity beyond the screen,” says Diet director Nina Johnson, “creating an environment that allows people to spend time.”

Without knowing the back story to the video, the visuals seem to illustrate an archeological survey, not of an ancient culture but of our own. On the side screens there are images of rusting cars, metal, and a couple of decaying beds in a cave, in a desert landscape. In the middle, a pair of hands prepares ritualistic symbols, made from similar detritus of the modern age. Every once in a while, the room is penetrated by strange sounds and plaintive a cappella singing, the voice and lyrics of the artist herself (although manipulated so that it sounds much more like a deep man’s voice).

Upon learning the background story, the video takes on another layer. Gast brought her camera out to Utah, to a cave that in the 1950s was inhabited by two men who believed the end was near, and ultimate destruction would again come in the form of a flood. So they built themselves their version of an ark, and apparently holed up on the hilltop until their deaths. The repetitive image in the center screen, the creation of two “stick people” made out of scrap metal, takes on different meaning. The desolation of the landscape, strewn with the garbage of modern life, can suggest ecological doom, but through these hands shaping new images, there is also an idea of rebirth, as we build on what we have lost.

The exhibit includes totem-like sculptures, also suggesting the remains of something that once was. It is a very sophisticated solo show from the Miami-based Gast, who is a relative newcomer, having graduated with an MFA from Columbia University in 2004. In the end it blurs the line between what we create (art, or civilization) and what we destroy in the process. As the barren Utah desert turned into Gast’s studio, the question of the impact of human intervention — anywhere in any form — hangs heavy in the air. A question well worth pondering on Earth Day, in a Batty Cave.

There will be a panel discussion on “The Role of the Narrative in Contemporary Video Practice” on April 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the gallery, with Gast, MAM’s Rene Morales, and curator Camila Marambio.

“Batty Cave” through May 1 at Gallery Diet, 174 NW 23rd St., Miami; 305-571-2288.