ART ON THE MART
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Buildings are institutional, so to decolonise them I think about building up to create new ways of thinking and understanding”
Fernandes had been considering monuments and statues that represent a singular body, but not his or many other people’s bodies. “I’ve been thinking about how we decolonise them, which in America right now means taking them down, but I’ve been exploring ways of challenging by altering,” he explains. “In some of my work, I’m building mirrored structures around monuments within the city.” One of these projects is New Monuments Chicago . For this, Fernandes designed a sculptural installation out of scaffolding and mirrors to place around the General John Alexander Logan Monument in Grant Park, Chicago. The installation challenges the complex history behind the subject. When it came to Build Up the House , Fernandes knew the important role that the Mart plays in Chicago’s history. “It’s an institution; a massive building with its own zip code because it’s so big,” he says. “Buildings are institutional and have a presence, so to decolonise them I think about building up to create different ways of thinking and understanding. Physical interruptions of new doorways so we can walk through differently or introduce new accessibility. Altering windows as new ways of seeing out.” FOUR ON THE FLOOR 2024 commemorates the 40th anniversary of house music, and Build Up the House pays homage to the music genre. “Chicago is the birthplace of house music,” adds Fernandes. “I wanted to play with the idea of building a new house – and a new house music – and challenging the building’s façade by projecting this artwork on it that encourages new ways of seeing and interpreting. So as it becomes a visual spectacle of bodies dancing and moving, it also becomes a meeting space. People stop and gather to listen to the music. Every time it plays, it becomes a mini house dance party.” While the exact origins of the term ‘house music’ remain unclear, it’s often attributed to The Warehouse nightclub where the unique sound first emerged. In Chicago’s West Loop neighbourhood, The Warehouse played host to DJs such as Frankie Knuckles. Referred to as the ‘godfather of house’, it was there that Knuckles first spliced records together along to a four-on-the-floor pulse and with tempos ranging from 120 to 130 beats per minute. Other early pioneers of the genre included Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, J M Silk (aka Jack Master Silk), Chip E, Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk and Marshall Jefferson. In 1984, Vince Lawrence and Jesse Saunders released their song On and On , widely considered to be the first real house record. House music soon spread across the globe, with Saunders and Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk’s Love Can’t Turn Around peaking at number ten in the UK singles chart in 1986. A year later, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley’s Jack Your Body reached number one in the UK charts.
The scale of the art deco building in Chicago means that Fernandes’ work effectively spans two blocks
For Build Up the House , Shaun J Wright created a house music
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