Surface Tension Supplement

Edited by Ken Ehrlich and Brandon LaBelle. Essays by Jennifer Gabrys, Robin Wilson, Michael Rakowitz, Claudine Isé, Octavio Camargo, Kathy Battista, Brandon Lattu, Simparch, e-Xplo, James O'Leary, Kristin Kreider, et al. 'Following the success of Surface Tension: Problematics of Site, Surface Tension: Supplement No. 1 presents contemporary site-based practices in art, architecture and performance through writing, documentation and projects. It offers readers a string of moments when artistic practice actively discovers, defines and recreates public space, and asks what role that kind of practice might play in defining contemporary culture and society. Issues of design activism and the role of media in spatial experience are explored in critical essays by Jennifer Gabrys on Fresh Kills Landfill in New York, Michael Rakowitz on the Hungarian-based team Big Hope, and in Claudine Is's Vanishing Point, an exhibition questioning the aesthetics of urban non-spaces. Ken Ehrlich contributes a piece on the infrastructure of signage in Los Angeles as seen through the photographs of Brandon Lattu. In addition, readers will find documentation of projects by the artist groups Simparch and e-Xplo, along with Kristin Kreider and James O'Leary's works designed specifically for the book.