The Monuments Project (1993–1995)
Network not Empire
Seattle, 1993. Fresh off a painting ISP in Florence, broke, and disoriented by the gap between what I'd just seen in Italy and daily life back home. That year's news was Sarajevo, Somalia, Waco but everyone wanted to talk about the X-Files and Wu-Tang instead. I photocopied a newspaper photo of the Washington Monument until it degraded into a generic obelisk, ancient and placeless, then put it on posters and t-shirts distributed by a small group of collaborators.
We glued and taped it to buses, parking meters, and phone booths from Seattle to Prague, Amsterdam, Berlin. No credit, no permission, no gallery. Obelisks are monuments built to travel, looted and re-erected as claims of reach. Mine moved by network instead of empire, hand to hand, asserting presence in public space that was never granted. This record includes the street work alongside the collage studies and proposals that shaped it.
Monuments, photocopied poster on King County Metro bus, Seattle, 1993.
Monuments, photocopied poster on USWest Communications phone booth, Pioneer Square, Seattle, 1993.
Monuments, photocopied poster on utility pole, Freemont, Seattle, 1993.
Monuments, photocopied poster on warehouse, Seattle, 1993.
Monuments, photocopied poster on sidewalk vault cover, public right-of-way, Pioneer Square, Seattle, 1993.
Monuments, photocopied poster on city parking meter, Seattle, 1993.
Monuments, photocopied poster on 30 minute load and unload sign, Downtown Seattle, 1993.
Monuments, photocopied poster on street sign, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1994.
Monuments, photocopied poster on street kiosk, Prague, Czech Republic, 1994
Monuments, photocopied poster on wall, Prague, Czech Republic, 1994
Monuments, photocopied poster on street kiosk, Berlin, Germany, 1994
Monuments, photocopied poster on street kiosk with bus, Berlin, Germany, 1994
Monuments, Global Plan, collage on newsprint, 36 x 35 in., 1993.
Monuments, Roma, collage on newsprint, 24 x 36 in., 1993.
Monuments, Dublin, collage on newsprint, 17 x 28 in., 1993.
Monuments, LA, collage on newsprint, 17 x 27 in., 1993.
Monuments, Porcelain Art, collage on newsprint, 17 x 27 in., 1993.
Monuments, Get Your Own, collage on newsprint, 12 x 17 in., 1993.
Monuments, Celebrity, collage on newsprint, 14 x 17 in., 1993.
Monuments, Spettacoli, collage on newsprint, 15 x 24 in., 1993.
Monuments, Video Treatment, collage on newsprint, 14 x 17 in., 1993.
Monuments, Aurora Ave -10, collage on newsprint, 17 x 14 in., 1993.
Monuments, Ticking Clock -20, collage on newsprint, 14 x 17 in., 1993.
Monuments, Flash Art, collage on newsprint, 14 x 20 in., 1993.
Monuments, X, photo transfer on white t-shirt, 1993.