Land Mass / Opened Lands

Land Mass, in collaboration with Wendy Jacob, includes 16 mobile benches based on the shapes and dimensions of city-owned vacant land in Chicago at 1:25 scale. The number of benches corresponded to the number of vacant lots that existed (on average) in an area of Chicago equal to the gallery area at that time. (One out of every 33 square feet in Chicago in 2002 was vacant land.)

Opened Lands documented local, non-institutionalized uses of vacant lots that created public spaces in the city of Chicago. If you unfold the map accompanying each photograph, you will find stories, pictures, and other information relevant to these publicly appropriated sites.

Together these works consider both imaginary and actualized uses of public space.

Land Mass, 2002. Plywood, recycled vinyl, wheels; dimensions variable. Opened Lands, 2002. Digital photographs, hand-made maps. First exhibited in Critical Mass, curated by Stephanie Smith at the Smart Museum, University of Chicago.