Terrain Biennial Extra Projects, Avondale The Franklin, Garfield Park Jennifer Mannebach, Oak Park
This work plays with a rainbow spectrum of colored plastics onto a chain-link fence to transform an examine the sheer density of chain fencing on the west side, an area bifurcated by development and disinvestment. It as an architectural material creating the fence builds a psychic mass that is distinct from other parts of the city, it is a symbol of class, while also acting as an overlay that can sometimes be very tense for citizens to contend and participate with day-in and day-out.
The vibrating, reflective color and material aim to entertain neighborhood residents who pass by to give a sort of release with the unexpected environmental changes and a moment of visual play that abstracts and reflects the materiality of the street. At the same time, the work probes the social and economic systems that shape communities, and issues of class, race, and gender that lie beneath its pattern repeat and mapping out local migrations and economies of our urban life. The work investigates the conditions of new urban landscapes, including the effects of gentrification, renewal, and violence in the city.