SOLO MESOPOROS
2014
Marissa Lee Benedict
Installation view in ︎︎︎The Chicago Effect: Redefining the Middle, curated by Allison Peters Quinn, Megha Ralapati, and Christopher K. Ho for the Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago, US).
10’ Maine peapod rowboat (hand-built), 55-gallon water barrel, helium tank, carbon dioxide tank, water sample (Chicago River), scaffolding, emergency weather radio, clamp lights
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A hand-built boat constructed of white oak and reclaimed lumber sourced from urban arborists in Sokie, IL (US) and the Rebuilding Exchange in Chicago, IL (US), Eva is a vehicle. Supported in part by ︎︎︎6018 North, her maiden voyage took place in October 2013 with rowing partner Lia Rousset as a site-specific event within a larger curatorial project organized by Tricia van Eyck for the ︎︎︎EdgeUP festival. Eva is a platform, a tool, a form, for traversing the surface of lakes and rivers, with thoughts of future rising waters and unstable land forms in her peripheral vision. As her motto "solo mesoporos" suggests, roughly translating as "only halfway thorough the journey,” Eva has the potentital to act as a catalyst for sculptural projects, actions, and collaborative performances on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.