readme: archive.faheem: The Demise of the South Side Community Art Center (2009): Vacant Box (2007)

FROM THE ARCHIVE / #TBT: As part of Faheem Majeed's 2009 graduate thesis The Demise of the South Side Community Art Center, 13" x 13" x 13" wooden boxes constructed from shipping crates were released into the immediate environment of the South Side Community Art Center and documented as they traveled through the neighborhood. Over the course of a few months, these boxes eventually disappeared. They exist here, now, as these photographs.

1. Vacant lot behind the SSCAC

2. Unpackaged Shona Sculpture

3. Crates housing Shona Sculpture

4. Vacant Box and milk crate seating

Provided here is Faheem's writing on Vacant Box, pulled from his original thesis text:

“A portion of my work deals with the impact of the SSCAC on its surrounding/immediate community and the community’s impact in the SSCAC. Located in Bronzeville, the SSCAC sits on a block in which boundaries have been created by differences in class, religion, financial and social status. The “Vacant Box” work is concerned with challenging these boundaries and creating dialogue between residents of this block. Located across the alley behind the SSCAC is a vacant lot (image 1) that has become a meeting space for local residents. The vacant lot is owned by Apostolic Faith Church and is used as a parking lot for its parishioners on Sundays. Monday through Saturday it has been adopted as a neighborhood gathering space. To the west of the vacant lot across the alley sits the South Side Community Art Center, to north is the studio of well known artist Kerry James Marshall, to south is a small thrift store, and on the corner is Rothschild liquor store. The vacant lots also share an alley with a number of new and rehabbed condo developments. The groups of people who meet in the space are predominately African-American males, ranging from 50 to 70 years in age. Usually the meetings are accompanied by consumption of alcohol and chemical substances. The presence of the Rothschild Liquors on the blocks South East Corner and the drug dealers North West corner, make the vacant lot the ideal meeting location for the inebriated. In “Vacant Box”, I fabricated 13” x 13” x 13” cubes out of wood planks from shipping crates used to package and send Shona Sculpture from Ghana to the States (images 2 & 3). The history of these materials that were used by West African laborers to package art work that was locally created and shipped to the states for consumers intrigued me. The crates were riddled with imperfections and functional solutions; bent reused rusty nails, poorly cut irregular planks, shredded local newspapers, and shipping information written in red and black marker. I found these crates to be far more interesting than the sculptures that were shipped because the imperfections found on the boxes imply a far more interesting history than the mass produced, generic shona sculptures that they contained. Each wooden box was similar in size to the milk crates that are used as stools for sitting (image 4). My strategy was to insert the boxes into the vacant lot over the course of two months by exchanging them for the milk crates. In my delivering of the boxes, I would create opportunities for dialogue between myself and the men and women who frequented the vacant lot. Through these conversations, I worked to challenge the social boundaries of the block and the wariness or concern that arise from interaction. Through my discussions while sitting on the boxes, I found that many of the people within the lot had been coming there for decades. We spoke about the gentrification and the change of terrain on the block. I was given a history lesson in what residents and businesses were around in previous decades. We also spoke of various subjects including local, national, global politics. I was chastised for not being able to keep up in the conversation and was told I needed to be more knowledgeable on international issues. I also learned more about how my offering needed to be more customized to its surrounding. I realized that in my making of the boxes, I had become engaged in the materials, but not directly with the end users. I had accidentally overlooked certain necessities, like handles, that would allow the users to easily move the boxes as needed. After the initial two month period, the boxes slowly began to move off of the vacant lot. I have surmised that some were destroyed in fits of anger and some might have been removed for personal use. Ultimately, the boxes disappeared.”