Themes

Below I have listed projects that fall into the following themes. These themes form the threads that run throughout all of my work: Chicago-Centric Work; Social Movement Documentaries; Collaborative Research; Education; Food and Ecology; Public Space; Urban Planning; Cooperatives and Collectives.

Chicago-Centric Work

Over the last 10 years I have produced a number of projects focused on the conditions of the city itself. The city I live in has been the lens through which I have attempted to understand contemporary issues ranging from neoliberal economic policies to the political potential of art and the power of social movements. These efforts include:

  • Never The Same (Ongoing)
  • Notes for a People’s Atlas of Chicago (2006-2011)
  • Visions for Chicago (2011)
  • AREA Chicago (2005-2010)
  • Critical Art in Chicago (2008-2009) – This 5-Part series for H-Art Magazine attempted to frame key issues surrounding social/political art in Chicago for an outside audience focused on historygroups and spacesinstitutionsmedia, and community building led by individuals.
  • 5 Questions about Art in Chicago (2008)
  • Trashing the Neoliberal City available here for download or in print through Half Letter Press for $7 (2006)
  • CHAos (2005)
  • Contested Chicago Bus Tours (2005-2008): From 2005-2008 I gave bus-tours of contested histories in Chicago as part of the University of Chicago Masters in Social Sciences orientation. The tour was two and a half hours long, 32 miles and focused on the intersections of incarceration, displacement, and migration with a strong emphasis on local social-movement history. The tour was tailored to social science graduate students who were new to Chicago and looking for research subjects and ways to be socially-engaged graduate students. Much of the research for the tour was presented in a map/timeline in the “Solidarities” 3rd issue of AREA Chicago (designed by Dave Pabellon).
  • Daley Village (2001)

Social Movement Documentaries:

Over the years I have come to understand much of what I make as “social movement documentaries” which are intended to be made by/for/with the movements they attempt to document and archive. A few of those projects are:

Collaborative Research:

Using a variety of forums and formats I have attempted to continuously experiment with collaborative forms of research in an attempt to combat the isolation and individualism  of education and scholarship:

Education:

Learning communities form organically and bureaucratically and both approaches warrant investigation. I have continuously tried to integrate conversations about education both inside and outside of schools in a variety of forms from articles to public events:

Food and Ecology:

In 2001 I was in an arts administration class where we were assigned to organize an art event collaboratively. The only thing we could come up with as a shared interest was food and since then I have continuously found that urgent theme recurring in my interests and work:

Public Space:

I am deeply concerned about the quality of public space in the city, how it is used and by whom. This theme has been explored through collaborative research, interventions and public art:

Urban Planning:

The planning and organization of cities has been a central theme of much of my journalism and collaborative public art:

Cooperatives and Collectives:

A significant part of my time and practice has involved forming and contributing to groups, communities and cooperatives. I enjoy the challenges and benefits posed by working in groups and feeding off of the collective creativity. Here are a few of the groupings I have been involved with over the years:


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