Make:Art:Work, American
“What about Flint?”, 2016
The Detroit art collective, Make:Art:Work, created this neon sign as part of a Rube Goldberg kinetic installation organized across five American cities and regions: New Hampshire, Phoenix, Atlanta, Oakland and Detroit. In the project, titled Common Ground, each artist or collective had to design, fabricate, and film their part of the Rube Goldberg machine in coordination with the other cities. In Detroit, members of Make:Art:Work designed a series of fiery displays which culminated in explosion of a small house illuminated with this neon sign, “What about Flint?” The group’s machine was a direct commentary on art’s ability to destroy the institutions that have failed citizens. By challenging themselves to work across geographic boundaries, the various artists and makers of Common Ground connected through art, technology, and most importantly, by talking to each other. Label by Kelly Conway
Click here to see Common Ground’s Rube Goldberg in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=WMrZ0HiRfOo