Decay Circulation2024
124 years ago, a heavy rain washed waste from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan, the city’s primary drinking source. Combined with the cholera epidemic—a deadly waterborne disease spreading from Europe to the U.S.—fears over water safety grew, leading to the decision to reverse the Chicago River’s flow. This feat, celebrated as an engineering marvel, only temporarily addressed water hygiene issues, later causing bigger problems like flooding, invasive species, and Great Lakes contamination, with new algae emitting liver-damaging toxins. This projection will appear at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge, where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. Spots resembling cholera’s skin lesions will gradually spread over the bridge facade, changing color with the cholera cycle, finally turning gray-blue in the stage of death. Headlines from 124 years of Chicago River-related news will appear in sequence, encouraging public awareness of ongoing water issues. I am planning a series of public projections with local communities and am in discussions with Urban River; the next Chicago River projection will take place at Wild Mile.
Public Projection
1'58"