The highlight of the show for me was Michael Rakowitz's paraSITE, which "proposes the appropriation of the exterior ventilation systems on existing architecture as a means for providing temporary shelter for homeless people." While clearly not trying to be aesthetically pleasing, like much of the work in the exhibition, it surely gives the gallery-goer something to think about beyond mere beauty. The dirty and ragged exterior illustrates its potential state were it located on a sidewalk somewhere, and even makes one think that it came to the gallery from one such location.
The plastic structures are easily transportable when deflated. When hooked to a building exhaust vent, the air inflates the double-membrane structure into its habitable shape, while also heating the inside.
I couldn't help but think of the great numbers of homeless in Chicago's subterranean streets (Michigan Avenue, Wacker Drive, Illinois) that have been displaced by the Mayor, who also populates the city with homeless-deterrent benches and the like. On cold days walking to work on Lower Illinois, even I found relief in the brief rush of warm air from the adjacent high rises. But in the last few years, a security guard patrolling those areas means the homeless are out-of-sight, out-of-mind for most pedestrians.
Also, I couldn't help think of Chicago's (and other U.S. cities') near opposite: Tokyo, where homeless "camps" are widespread and tolerated. Blue tarps stretch along parts of the river and in some of the parks. Looking at the inflated paraSITE with plastic windows in the gallery space, the thought of hundreds of inflated shelter around the city didn't seem like such a bad idea.
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