Eight cities and a voyage from the North to the South through new urban landscapes. With LOCAL ICONS. Urban landscapes north/south (3-26 February 2017), an exhibition curated by Giulio Cappellini and Domitilla Dardi, authors Form Us With Love, Great Things to People, Gustavo Martini, Steven Haulenbeek, Marc Thorpe, Liliana Ovalle, Birsel + Seck e Ilkka Suppanen interpret eight cities, in an ideal dialogue between the world’s northern and southern regions. At MAXXI from 3 to 26 February 2017, LOCAL ICONS.
I was asked to create a small installation using Alcantara’s unique fabrics that reflected the soul of my city; the city of Chicago. I chose to concentrate on some popular folklore about the city of Chicago and an un-sung hero and villain of the city: The cow.
At the end of the 19th century, Chicago slaughtered hundreds of thousands of cattle per year and provided 82% of the meat for the entire country. At the same time, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow intent on revenge, kicked over a lantern that started the great Chicago fire of 1871. The fire decimated the city but also cleaned the slate for the emergence of the new modern city of architecture that it is today.
For the installation I took the typical form of the cow hide and re-animated it into ghostly herd of cattle. The Alcantara material has been printed with a custom pixilated hide pattern that references the grid of the modern city. Cast-bronze horns and a bell were created in Chicago to bring a hint of color and playful but slightly menacing spirit to the ghost herd.
