Core77

Rob Walker's Hypothetical Developments Show Opens Saturday

By Core Jr - April 7, 2011

in Architecture | Exhibitions

"Treme Authenticity Monument" by Kirsten Hively

Hey New Orleans!! Don't miss this Saturday's opening of the Hypothetical Developments: implausible futures for unpopular places group show at the Du Mois Gallery. We've been supporting Rob Walker's street art/future-use development project from idea to kickstarter project, and we're excited that it's grown into a full-fledged conversation around urban storytelling, the heights of public imagination and reclaiming unused space.

Members of this organization begin the narrative process by examining city neighborhoods and commercial districts for compelling structures that appear to have fallen into disuse—"hidden gems" of the built environment. In varying states of repair, these buildings suggest only stories about the past, not the future.

As a public service, H.D.O. invents a hypothetical future for each selected structure. Unlike a traditional, reality-based developer, however, our organization is not bound by rules relating to commercial potential, practical materials, or physics. In our view, plausibility is a creative dead end. That is to say: We are not trying to fool anybody.

H.D.O. creates convincing renderings of these imagined future uses. These renderings are, in the tradition of the form, printed onto large signs, and shared with the public in general. Each structure selected by H.D.O. will, for a time, present to the world the fascinating potential future we have invented.

Hypothetical Developments Saturday, April 9 5pm - 8 pm

Du Mois Gallery 4921 Freret New Orleans, LA

Check out info about participating artists and some more work from the upcoming show after the jump.Hypothetical Developments will feature a dozen pieces by our contributing artists & creators: John Becker, Candy Chang, Mark Clayton, Carey Clouse, Michael Doyle, Mauricio Espinosa, Christina Hilliard, Kirsten Hively, Nicole Lavelle, Sergio Humberto Padillo, Dave Pinter, Lauren Stewart, Meg Turner, and the SVA Masters in Branding Class of 2011. Founders G.K. Darby, Ellen Susan and Rob Walker, not to mention several of contributing artists, will be on hand at the reception.