A Mashup for the Masses

Part of the beauty of working the census is the random things (and people) I happen upon walking the streets for my government (envision snappy salute). So far, all my assignments have been in my home 'hood, Jackson Ward, but today I had to venture over to Monroe Ward to try to entice a stubborn type to cooperate after another enumerator had met with no success.

And, lo and behold, there on the lawn of the Linden Row Inn was something both sculptural and architectural and completely unexpected, so naturally I had to check it out. As part of the VMFA's reopening, 1708 Gallery had placed this piece in a satellite location in hopes of it being observed and admired by the masses.

"Octagonal Living Unit 2.0" by Craig Pleasants took its inspiration in part from two VMFA works, Robert Gwathmey's "Family Portrait" and Bruce Marden's "Meritatio." The structure/sculpture is a 112" x 115" x 115" styrofoam, steel and latex paint shelter meant to be experienced both inside and outside. The piece I was looking at is a smaller version of a 500 square foot housing unit inspired by the housing crises in Haiti, Chile and China.

The sculpture had eight walls and took its color scheme from Marden's abstract color field painting. The front and back walls were peaked, I assume for visual interest. I can't imagine anyone preferring a standard mobile home over this colorful and easily assembled living space (which, by the way, takes only a few hours to assemble).

Pleasants is on record as having said that he doe not rely on the power of ornamentation for power and admiring this house as I stood on Franklin Street across from the library, it was clear that ornamentation was not necessary. The Gwathmey painting from which it partly took its inspiration depicts two families in adjoining open-front shelters and I could easily imagine a small family happily occupying this space, appreciative of both the below-market cost of it and the satisfying aesthetic of it.

The artist referred to it as a visual and conceptual mashup, but it didn't take much to envision it as a person's home. Standing on the sidewalk, it struck me as an example of real world art, even as a toothless, homeless man was asking me for spare change.

In the greater sense, Pleasants is obviously part of the solution, not the problem. But don't wait to happen on this visual treat like I did or you might miss it. And that would be your loss.