Cultural Center of the City of Chicago

Curator: 
Nathan Mason
Curator of Special Projects
Public Art Program, Visual Arts Division
Department of Cultural Affairs
City of Chicago
78 E. Washington St.
Chicago, IL 60602
312.742.1232 v
312.742.1159 f

Location: 
I will bring the sand in an environmental setting in a parking booth just across from the Museum of Contemporary Art. As well on one single day I will present four installations/performances at the Art Fair´s visitors parking lot during the Art Fair takes place.

Date: 
April 20th - May 3rd 2007

Material:
Sand, mixed materials 

Photographer:
Karin Desmarowitz

The city environment of Chicago is very much connected with the lake shore of Lake Michigan. The lake as a water reservoir, as a weekend escape, as a transportationsystem etc. is very influencial on history, weather, habit, architecture, social and that for on the artistic concept of my project in Chicago. The lake shore with beautiful sand beaches covers more than 30 miles of Chicago city. And : this sand is artificially brought to the shore from further West to cover the lake´s water front.
As my work in public art is deeply connected with the history, architectural and social structure of the chosen place, I will work with the "natural" element sand and transport it further into the streets of the city center.
Sand as an element in an alien environment differs immediately in terms of quality and meaning: in front of a store or in houses it changes into the level of dirt, in the streets onto the level of waste. The sand will become an alien element within the city : Sand in the Gear!. Either here or there it is a disturbing element and not very wellcome anymore. Only a few inches further from the beach it changes its character. So I will interfer into this understanding and confuse a common sense of settings of environments and situations in metropoles.