Occasionally I'll make a piece that lands outside of what would be considered my normal course of work. This could be a show that has requirements to use a specific medium or object, or perhaps a piece based on a specific theme. I've grouped these pieces here under "Asides" for lack of a better category.
1150-60 Sedgwick (Birdhouse). 2004. Wood and vinyl photo transfer. 18 x 30 x 6"
In 2004 Edward Maldonado, curator of the Chicago Clarke House Museum, invited a group of artists and architects to create functional birdhouses for an outdoor show on the museum grounds. For the Birds: an amazing exhibition of birdhouse dwellings by Chicago artists and architects.
One of the options for the show was to create a birdhouse based on a Chicago signature building or landmark. The 1150-60 Sedgwick birdhouse was made using photographs of one of the last remaining highrises from the Cabrini-Green Chicago public housing project located at 1150-60 Sedgwick street. (Original photographs to right.)
Population Globe. 2007. Fiberglass and resin. 56x56x56"
In 2006 I was asked to make one of the globes to be included in the Cool Globes, Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet exhibition. The piece was made using thousands of oral contraceptive pills cast in plastic to create a global population density map. Four common colors of oral contraceptive pills were used to represent different densities of persons per square kilometer; Blue pills indicated populations over 1,000 people per square kilometer, green, between 501-1,000, pink, between 101-500 and yellow, between 1-100. Originally rejected by the exhibition committee as being too controversial, the piece was eventually included in the exhibition.