POST :: PROJECTS

Projects will be added on a month to month basis.

2004:
July: Deva Maitland, My Biggest Mistake is Waiting for Perfect Communication
May: Siebren Versteeg, Independence Day
April: Ben Gill, I don't think I ever said that
March: Kristen Vandeventer, Look at this mountain, I am trying to tell you

2003
December: Philip von Zweck, The Gift of Free Parking
November: Artists of the Little City Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, Evacuation Plan
October: Vincent Dermody, Love Chicago/Hate the Circle
September: John Neff, We are all sinners
July: Michael Wolf, Avian Invaders
June: Rena Leinberger Socks
May: Andy Hall, The First Encyclopedia of Sustainable Projects
April: Pedro Velez, A Glorious Ending




DEVA MAITLAND July 2004 The phrase from Maitland's poster is derived from a book of unedited drawings and text created by the artist in 2003. Consisting of 100 pages, the book was made with the intention of communicating freely without revisions or editing. Grammatically incorrect, My Biggest Mistake is Waiting for Perfect Communication expresses the artist's desire to act instinctively and with slight err, rather than exist in a state of inaction and reserve due to a heightened self-awareness of language. Hung in the offices of employees at museums, schools, banks and retail; Maitland replaces the typical "hang in there" motivational poster with her own awkward but honest poster about interpersonal communication. Aware that unedited contact between people may be a near impossible task, Maitland¹s poster tries to bridge the gap between clear communication and truthful expression. View documentation of this project. : back to top :



SIEBREN VERSTEEG May 2004 Using an image taken directly from the 1996 blockbuster movie, Independence Day, Versteeg's poster resembles promotional marketing material. Yet, at closer glance, Versteeg's rendition replaces the credit information from the movie with a quote from the political artist collective, Critical Art Ensemble. Reintroducing this digitally generated vision of devastation to the public, Versteeg provokes consideration of the communal fantasies and nightmares invoked through the media and entertainment industry. His project exposes this image's complex function as a contemporary myth that cultivated sales by capitalizing on mounting pre-millennial hysteria, while at the same time perhaps hedging these paranoias by relegating the depicted scenario to that of the dreamlike and impossible fantasies of Hollywood. The quote by Critical Art Ensemble (from 1997) was selected by Versteeg with the intention to carry this line of questioning further into the conflating arenas of political protest and media sensationalism. It discusses the shift of governing power away from physical locales, claiming that "the physical space of the White House is only a hollow representation of presidential authority; it is not essential to it." Versteeg's imposition of these two highly charged agents evokes a conundrum, inviting viewers to continue to question relationships between physical and virtual realities. View documentation of this project. : back to top :

BEN GILL
April 2004

I don¹t think I ever said that is composed of minor and major oppositions -- piles of salt as large glacial immovable mountains brought down to scale by veins of blue chemical, parking stripes, and jersey barriers, veneers against internal structure, contextual meaning against discrete internal relationships. The Clean and barren monuments of modernism clash with the grimy and corrosive detritus of the city. A steel structure building with a faux classical veneer is reflected in the modern grid. The tasteful almost over-design of The Inland steel building¹s stainless steel and blue glass, hint at the problematic relationship between democratic leveling ideals of modern international and the elitist aesthetic adoption of stylistic modernism.

While the structure of Gill¹s poster taps into the history of picture making, as a pure exercise in formal abstraction it is undermined by a focus on surface and taste, deflated by use of historically loaded materials. Reminiscent of a banner or flag, documentary photo, film/video still, or desktop image, the poster defies easy categorization. Extracting remarkably different reads in various contexts throughout the city.

View documentation of this project.

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KRISTEN VANDEVENTER
March 2004

Look at this mountain, I am trying to tell you is an edition that consists of two parts. The first is a color image of a mountain scene flanked by curtains. It appears to be a simple reproduction of the view from a window overlooking a breathtaking landscape. However, upon closer inspection, creases and other material flaws are apparent and the image is revealed as a photograph of a photograph. The unnatural colors are notably reminiscent of an old postcard evoking a sense of longing and escapism.

The second part of the project consists of a series of Xeroxed handwritten flyers that will be placed in the vicinity of the posters and on their own. The flyers vary from lost and found letters to personal notes from one anonymous person to another. Longing for something beautiful in the midst of hopelessness, "Look at this mountain, I am trying to tell you " expresses a desire to be somewhere else while remaining in the same place.

View documentation of this project.

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PHILIP VON ZWECK December 2003 The Gift of Free Parking is a cut and fold sculpture that has been designed to fit over parking meters. A direct reference to the act of placing bags over meters as a signal that it has broken, von Zweck¹s post edition intends to similarly relieve people from having to pay to use their own space. The Gift of Free Parking reconsiders this ongoing contention with public space, drawing from a 1961 quote by Attila Kutani and Raoul Vaneigem in the International Situationist #6, as well as more recent public actions/reactions such as the occupation of Lake Shore Drive by anti-war protesters earlier this year. With this project, vonZweck masks this fight in holiday decoration -- providing a Christmas tree cover for parking meters. Read the Situationist quote from the poster. View documentation of this project. : back to top :




ARTISTS FROM THE LITTLE CITY FOUNDATION November 2003 For their POST project, entitled "Evacuation Plan", artists Harold Jefferies, Kathy Kane and Michael Lyon respond to non-specific crisis situations with the messages, "Don¹t Freeze, Run!" and "If It¹s Really BadŠTake Other Precautions". Layered on top of a sprawling, line-drawn evacuation plan, the artists consider the protocols of emergency conditions and question the assumptions of personal safety and well-being. This project is in conjunction with the exhibition, ALERT - Please Proceed to a Shelter Nearest You,opening November 18 at UIC¹s Gallery 400. As part of the "At The Edge" series, ALERT responds to a society of fear and to the propagation of anxiety and stress throughout the United States. Designed to question the definition of "emergency", ALERT explores how consumer culture perpetuates fear while ignoring concerns such as healthcare, housing and education. : back to top :




VINCENT DERMODY October 2003 LOVE CHICAGO/HATE THE CIRCLE, responds to the popular local t-shirt that reads "I (blue circle) Chicago," in effect altering the famous "I Love New York" t-shirt. For Dermody's POST edition, the artist has again re-altered the "I love" t-shirt slogan to express disdain for the blue circle, which to him represents complacency and further reinforces the "second city" stigma of Chicago. The creators of the blue circle t-shirt, claim that the blue circle was chosen for its lack of obvious connotations. Dermody, however, states that replacing a red heart with a blue circle simply reinstates the "I'm just here 'cause it's cheap, but I really want to move to New York" attitude. Through an extensive media campaign including posters, stickers and postcards, Dermody defends his favorite city. Born on the corner of Mulligan and Sunnyside on the northwest side of Chicago, Dermody's message is personal - "love Chicago or leave it!" View documentation of this project. : back to top :




JOHN NEFF September 2003 We Are All Sinners represents two versions of the Last Judgment, one of which accords with the views of contemporary far-right Christians, and one of which depicts the damnation of the leaders of today's conservative movement. Each of the two halves of the image are organized according to a centuries-old standard composition for representations of the Last Judgment. Christ in majesty rests at the top center of the scene, with the elect rising on his right (from the point of view of the beholder, the left-hand side of the picture) and the damned descending into hell on his left (or sinister) side. The two scenes are represented on a single piece of paper, with the damnation of Bush, Ashcroft et al. on the image's recto (right) side, and the Last Judgment according to those individuals on the image's verso. When reproduced in poster form, the two sides of the page are viewed top-to-top, so that, depending on the hanging of the poster, the views of conservative leaders are presented as not only backwards, but also up-side-down. View documentation of this project. : back to top :




MICHAEL WOLF July 2003 Michael Wolf's Avian Invaders is the result of Wolf's fascination with migration, the development of ethnic neighborhoods and the outsider experience. With this project, he has channelled his interests towards the avian population of his neighborhood -- in particular, birds that had migrated to the area by way of some human idea or desire. The final poster -- a compilation of lyrical drawings and scientific illustrations -- are drawn from images and information collected by the artist while birdwatching during the spring and summer of 2003. Wolf found that as with everywhere in North America, the most abundant birds in the area were non-native species that tend to thrive in rural and urban areas of human habitation. View documentation of this project. : back to top :




RENA LEINBERGER June 2003 Socks is comprised of two simple images: one white soccer sock and one blue soccer sock which are wrapped around poles, meters and posts throughout Wicker Park. Clothing street fixtures from the ground up, Leinberger's public installation achieves an absurd sense of mobility and rivalry. Alternating colors and formations, Leinberger transforms banal structures into opposing forces and competing teams. Enabling static objects to suddenly take sides, the artist implicates multiple socio-political boundaries existing divisions between class, race, or gender. View documentation of this project. View documentation of this project at the Stray Show. : back to top :




ANDY HALL May 2003 Andy Hall's Encyclopedia Sustainable presents an A to Z list of activities or remedies simple ideas for an energized, better, and brighter way of life. Examining a range of theories on environmental sustainability, architecture, art production, and design, Encyclopedia Sustainable promotes the cultivation of alternative ideas for everyday living and offers a clever though viable list of options for local action. Encyclopedia Sustainable will be posted throughout Chicago¹s northwest neighborhoods beginning May 22nd. Of significant importance to this piece is the intention of providing useful information. The bottom portion of the poster, which is perforated for easy removal, provides Chicago with a list of buy-back outlets for recycling materials as well as a guide for composting. View documentation of this project. : back to top :




PEDRO VELEZ April 2003 Velez's A Glorious Ending will be exhibited in various northwest neighborhoods (Wicker Park, Humboldt Park, and River West) beginning April 15, 2003. Created as a two-part poster edition, A Glorious Ending incorporates both optimism and fatalism into a wish list of chance occurences between an unlikely cast of characters. Velez's POST edition embraces non-sensical thoughts, romantic ideals, art discourse, pseudo-confrontations, comradery, political concerns and the call of the wild. View documentation of this project. : back to top :