Exhibition

  • Red Lines, Death Vows, Foreclosures, Risk Structures
    Larissa Harris and Damon Rich
    Curators
    MIT Museum, Compton Gallery
    Sep 09, 2008 to Dec 21, 2008
  • GRANTEE
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    GRANT YEAR
    2008

Exhibition view. Photo: Judith M. Daniels. Courtesy of the MIT Museum.

Red Lines, Death Vows, Foreclosures, Risk Structures is a traveling exhibition and publication that will connect the complexities of global finance to the material realities of architecture. Red Lines will tell the stories of the rise of real estate financial markets, the people who make these markets work today, and the communities that fought (and are fighting) to reform the system. The exhibition's immersive installation will contain architectural elements, photography and video. Given the current housing crises, it is an ideal moment for this engaging and provocative exhibition that explores the hidden networks behind the built environment. Red Lines will premiere at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, MA and travel to a minimum of three other cities by June 2010. Up to four education programs will be designed for each venue. The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalog.

Damon Rich is a designer and writer who works at the intersection of architecture, policy, and the public. He is the founder of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to creative education about places and how they change. Rich's design work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, the Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art, the Storefront for Art and Architecture, Netherlands Architecture Institute (Rotterdam), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), and the Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna), His work for CUP appeared in the 2008 Architecture Biennale in Venice. Damon has taught design studios and seminars at Cooper Union and Parsons School of Design. His writing has appeared in the Village Voice, Architect's Newspaper, Metropolis Magazine, Domus, The Nation, and Architecture Magazine. Rich has lectured extensively at venues including the Architectural League (NYC), the University of Chicago, the Netherlands Architecture Institute, Pratt Institute, and MIT. Rich has received many honors for his work, including a MacDowell Colony Fellowship in 2004, and a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University in 2006. Rich received a B.A. in Architecture from Columbia University. Currently, Rich is Urban Designer for Newark, New Jersey's Department of Planning & Community Development.

Larissa Harris is director of Programs at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Under her leadership, the Center has produced new work by Michael Smith and John Bell (Great Small Works); is developing projects with the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) and John Malpede; and has instituted a visiting artist series (Vito Acconci/ Acconci Studio, Miranda July, Ulrike Mueller/ LTTR, Judith Barry, Seth Price, Dexter Sinister, and Rachel Harrison, among others), a student residency program, and a residency for Boston-area artists. Harris began her career at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York where she worked on exhibitions such as Greater New York, 2000, and organized a wide variety of projects with emerging artists. She teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design and is a contributor to Modern Painters and Artforum.

Meg Rotzel coordinates CAVS' Fellowship, Affiliate, and Visiting Artist programs since 2004. She was founder, Director and Curator of the Berwick Research Institute, a Boston-based arts non-profit that is a platform for artistic research projects and supports individual artists through residencies in studio and public art. Rotzel has practiced as an exhibiting artist, curator, lecturer, and community service provider at numerous national and international organizations and institutions. She is the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Individual Artist Award, an MIT Arts Council Grant, an Emerging Artist Grant from the St. Botolft Club, and the Remis Award. She received her BFA from Tufts University in 1999, a Diploma in Studio Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2000, and is currently a candidate for Brown University's Masters in Public Humanities.