Monuments 2016

Duration: 6:00

Monuments and monumental structures attempt to formulate space and identify place through the singular history it represents. It attempts to evoke permanence through its material and size. In actuality, monuments do not formulate the space they are in, the space transforms them.

The 49th street beach in Chicago exemplifies the malleability of monuments. Habituated by Chicagoans themselves, this site creates its own colloquial history, especially with its sea wall graffiti and its eroded building bricks, scattered throughout. These elements deteriorate and are recycled into the space, creating new meaning and new identity continuously.

Made of plaster, this slab, similar to a viking rune stone, commemorates a history. Mimicking the sea wall graffiti on site, the slab erodes with the lakes waves and is formed by the place. Additionally, as I carve the stone, I take part in the habitual history of this site.