"The Synesthetic Plan of Chicago" has been in the Chicago Cultural Center for three months already. A lot has happened over the summer since SPC was installed -- we've had several pedagogical platform meetings; panel discussions have happened at Faie African Art Gallery, the Hyde Park Art Center, and Columbia College; and SPC modules have traveled to Mess Hall, Faie African Art Gallery, HPAC, Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center, and Myopic Bookstore. In addition, SPC expanded its number of modules: residents of the Bethesda Home, directed by teaching artist Tom Nieman, contributed several modules, students in Maggie Leininger's art class at Roosevelt University have contributed several modules as well.
It's been good working with the talented group of artists who have contributed to SPC, and we appreciate this commission from the City of Chicago. The City has extended the show at the Cultural Center, till Friday, October 9. On that date we will de-install. Parts of the show will then travel to Little Black Pearl and the Columbia College Library. We're exploring possibilities beyond that, perhaps the possibility of SPC traveling outside of Chicago.
It's interesting to see how the show as a whole as evolved. As modules have traveled to satellite locations over the past several months, the main group of modules at the Cultural Center has morphed. The three hexagonal clusters of modules have changed, as individual modules have moved to satellite locations, and new modules have been added. Many SPC artists have been including updates about their contributions, on their blogs and websites. (You can visit the SPC website for links to individual contributors' sites.)
Pictures of SPC can be seen at my flicker account, such as those taken at a module building meeting on May 12th; other meetings on May 19th, May 23rd, and May 25th; SPC's installation on May 28th and June 1st; and some more photos taken on June 3rd.
"Putting Layers on the Onion" has undergone a number of changes. It's been great to see how people have contributed their writings to that installation piece. No one has signed the pieces of paper on which they wrote their contributions, and I wonder who those people are. I've been involved with many artistic collaborations over the years, but this is the first time I've collaborated with people who have contributed to a project anonymously. I wonder what went into contributors' processes, and why they wrote what they wrote. How did the colors and smells of the papers that they pulled out of those envelopes affect that they decided to write?
