YOUR TOWN, INC.
Big Box Reuse with Julia Christensen
Curated by Astria Suparak
Aug. 29–Nov. 22, 2008
EVENTS AND RELATED PROGRAMS:
• Hometown BBQ Reception: Sept. 26, Fri. 5-8pm
• Carnegie Mellon University Lecture Series: Big Box Reuse Presentation + Book Signing,
Nov. 13, Thurs. 4:30-6pm
• Carnegie Museum + Walker Art Center Worlds Away exhibition: Feb. 2008–Jan.2009
• Society for Photographic Education: Mid-Atlantic 2008 Conference, Nov. 7-8
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Big box buildings have increasingly dominated the American landscape since
the 1960s. Author, artist, and researcher Julia Christensen spent the last
six years studying these monolithic, free-standing structures and their
resulting effects on our culture. In Your Town, Inc., the Miller Gallery at
Carnegie Mellon University will exhibit photographs and installation work
examining how communities are changing in the shadow of corporate real
estate.
Eighty photographs from Christensen's forthcoming book, Big Box Reuse (MIT
Press, Fall 2008), illustrate the ways in which communities throughout the
United States creatively re-employ the structures constructed and abandoned
by multinational corporations, such as Wal-Mart and K-Mart. Resulting
endeavors include: justice center, megachurch, senior resource center,
elementary school, and flea market.
Your Town, Inc. is an exhibition that explores the state of our built
environment. Between the photographs, UnBox building, and indoor parking
lot, the audience will be asked to think critically about how their own town
has changed in light of corporate real estate. And ultimately, the question
will be posed: how can you reclaim power over the design of your town¹s
future?
This exhibition is produced by the Miller Gallery, with assistance by
Oberlin College and in connection with MIT Press.
ABOUT JULIA CHRISTENSEN
Christensen's work has been featured in the New York Times, the Globe and
Mail, Preservation Magazine for the National Trust, and other publications;
her new media, video and installation work has shown recently at the Lincoln
Center, DUMBO Arts Center, and the Walker Art Center. Her book, Big Box
Reuse, will be published by MIT Press this fall. She is the Henry R. Luce
Professor of the Emerging Arts at Oberlin College and Conservatory, where
she teaches in the Studio Arts and TIMARA (Technology in Music and Related
Arts) Departments. She has also taught at Stanford University and California
College of the Arts, among other universities.
AREAS OF INTEREST:
• Architecture: Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture
• Art: Photo, Sculpture
• Design
• Environmental Studies
• Humanities: American Studies, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
• http://www.bigboxreuse.com
• http://juliachristensen.com
• http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11533
KEEP IT SLICK:
Infiltrating Capitalism With The Yes Men
Curated by Astria Suparak
Produced by the Feldman Gallery, PNCA + Miller Gallery, CMU
EVENTS AND RELATED PROGRAMS:
• How To Be A Yes Man Workshop with a sneak peak of
their new film
• New feature film release, The Yes Men Fix The World:
Spring 2009: Festival circuit
TOUR SCHEDULE
• Sept. 4–Oct. 26, 2008 @ The Philip Feldman Gallery, Pacific Northwest College
of the Arts.
In connection with Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Time Based Arts Festival
2008, Portland, Ore.
- Business Casual Reception: Sept. 4, 5-8pm.
- Workshop: Sept. 6, 3-4pm, in PNCA room 204.
• Nov. 14 – Jan. 19, 2009 @ The Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Workshop: Nov. 14, 5-6pm, in Kresge Theatre, College of Fine Arts. Part of the
Carnegie Mellon School of Art Lecture Series.
- Business Casual Reception: Nov. 14, 6-8pm
• 2009-2010:
National Tour
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
"What a wonderful world, where a band of guerrilla media activists does the
toothless newsmedia's job for them, exposing the Matrix of corporate power
and government venality for all to see." Mark Dery, The Pyrotechnic
Insanitarium: American Culture on the Brink
This is the first major exhibition of the artist-activist group the Yes Men.
Through impersonating representatives from big corporations and government
organizations such as ExxonMobil, The World Trade Organization, McDonald's,
Halliburton, Dow Chemical, and the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development, these culture-jamming activists have exposed dehumanizing
business practices and enacted ethical "identity correction" since 1999. The
Yes Men's sociopolitical pranks at conferences, on television and on the web
have been widely publicized, but never exhibited on this scale.
In KEEP IT SLICK, the elaborate costumes, slapstick videos, outrageous
posters and props will be exhibited alongside new works produced for this
exhibition. The Yes Men will conduct a workshop imparting practical
knowledge, with preview clips from their new feature length film to be
released this fall, The Yes Men Fix the World. A full color catalogue and
artist multiples will be available for purchase. After the premiere of this
exhibition at the Pacific Northwest College of the Arts, KEEP IT SLICK will
tour to Carnegie Mellon University and other venues nationally.
This exhibition is co-produced by the Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest
College of the Arts and the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University.
RESOURCES
· www.theyesmen.org
· www.pnca.edu
· www.pica.org/tba
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