062

Arte Útil archive nr:

062

Initiator:

Theaster Gates

Location:

US

Category:

pedagogical, urban-development, social

Users:

Theaster Gates, Inhabitants of South Dorchester Avenue.

Maintained by:

Theaster Gates

Certification:

implemented

Duration:

2006 - ongoing

Theaster Gates
-
Dorchester Project

Description:

“Using repurposed materials from all over Chicago, the aesthetic of Gates’ Dorchester Projects is both practical and poetic, bridging the creation of new art with the adaptive reuse of resources. Within this multi-functional and growing space, community-driven initiatives and experiences foster neighborhood revitalization and serve as a model for greater cultural and socioeconomic renewal. Dorchester provides its neighbors and local youth the opportunity to perceive built and living environments as spaces worth constructing, exploring and critiquing. It empowers community members to engage in the movement of radical hospitality by physically transforming their surroundings and filling them with beautiful objects, diverse people and innovative ideas.” (Theaster Gates)

Goals:

“I was always making art that was asking questions about the city, and why the city functioned the way it did. How does cultural and economic disparity happen? How can we fight it? I was trying to present these questions in the form of little abandoned ceramic houses and drawings or performances that spoke to the issue. And I just got tired of pointing a finger at it and wanted to actually do something about it, challenge it in a real way." (Theaster Gates)

Beneficial Outcomes:

Provides cultural institutions in the neighbourhood, brings together different community organisations and individuals, creating what Gates calls ‘radical hospitality’.

Images: