Down Below
site-specific installation, tufted red carpet, audio recording, 2022
“Down Below” invites guests on a series of strolls through underground Chicago, accompanied by an audio guide and highlighted by a red custom tufted carpet situated between historic rails located on 33 East Washington St. This site-specific installation became a part of the larger history of the underground infrastructure of Chicago.
The building called "Washington" which currently belongs to SAIC is where the school holds graduate student studios and galleries. However, it is also the former annex of Chicago’s first department store,: Marshall Field’s. Located in the historic business district, it used to be a part of a network of freight tunnels and it still carries traces of its layered history.
In the audio guide, the artist's voice weaves historical facts with personal stories, activating the walk and the artwork simultaneously. It takes visitor-participants on a journey beneath the Washington Building: 40 feet/12 meters down, and then along a 140 feet/42 meters route that passes through part of the city's vast network of underground tunnels. While strolling, visitors are (re)defining the center and the periphery. Under the control of this distinct space, cardinal directions become meaningless. There is no natural light or phone reception, participants must rely on trust. They orient themselves towards and away from others. Listening to a recording through their headphones, they follow the soothing voice of a reserved storyteller as they meander through public and personal (hi)stories, evoked by the underground.