Editorial
The Commons Collection: Radical Futures
Participants take photographs with objects for The Commons Collection during In Progress: Folayemi Wilson and Norman Teague.
Photo: Michael Courier © MCA Chicago.
What questions or issues are important to Chicago’s young people around art and design within institutional, social, and urban spaces?
As part of blkHaUS studio’s Commons Artist Project, Norman Teague and Folayemi Wilson asked community members to bring small items from their personal collection that reflect their community, then photographed and catalogued them as part of The Commons Collection. Here are the collectors’ words—unedited—about their objects.
Person Name: Jane Andrews
Neighborhood: Park Manor
Object Name: Gold coin
Materials: Gold
Dimensions: 1 × 1 × 1 in.
Provenance: My mother actually found the coin as she was walking down the street
I always keep it in my wallet and use it as a good luck charm. My mother gave it to me when she came home and told me not to lose it.
I selected this item, because jewelry was a risk that I did not want to take. Also, I wanted to pick something that I already kept on me.
—Jane Andrews
Person Name: Ivan Salazar
Neighborhood: Chatham
Object Name: Blue pen
Maker: Pentel
Materials: Steel
Dimensions: 6 × 6 × 0.5 in.
Provenance: I actually borrowed it from my brother but never gave it back
I remember drawing and writing a poem about the relationship between my dad and I. It has a lot of emotional and spiritual value that has made me explore more about myself and how I relate to people in my surroundings.
[The writing] then transpired into making different poems about our relationship, which then led to a whole book dedicated to that.
It has helped me through a lot in terms releasing emotions. Also just documenting the day to day of my own life, which I can reflect on in a later date.
—Ivan Salazar
Person Name: Marcus Davis
Neighborhood: East Garfield Park
Object Name: Fork bracelet with jade, 2014
Materials: Aluminum fork, jade stone
Dimensions: 6 × 8 × 1 in.
Provenance: Purchased from an artist at African Fest in Washington Park
It reminds me of a time in my life where rent was cheap, all my friends lived close by, and summers were about being young, Black, and exceptional.
I’m a big fan of repurposing. To take a mundane fork and envision a piece of jewelry is a testament to the power of imagination. I’m also prone to losing jewelry, so it’s a personal accomplishment it remains in my possession.
My accessories are how I express my individuality.
—Marcus Davis
Person Name: Aaliyah Sargent
Neighborhood: Washington Heights
Object Name: Grandmother’s key
Materials: Brass
Dimensions: 2 × 2 × 1 in.
Provenance: I got this object from my grandmother. It was my great grandmother’s.
This is a spare key to my great grandmother’s ‘secret’ box. It’s meaningful because I have never met my great grandmother, but this is something that is part of her.
I felt like this is one of the few things I have a personal connection too.
This is a spare key. My grandmother ha[s] the regular one. When her times come, she will give that one to me as well.
—Aaliyah Sargent
Person Name: Jon Veal
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park
Object Name: Sip
Maker: Theaster Gates Studio
Materials: Clay
Dimensions: 2 × 2 × 3 in.
Provenance: I got this object on the South Side at the Theaster Gates studio
I was a young artist who just started working with the Rebuild Foundation at the time and I got this object as a gift from helping set up a party for the artist’s practice.
It represents the beginning of my journey and the generosity that I try to introduce into everything I do. Beautiful things take time.
—Jon Veal
Person Name: Jordan Campbell
Neighborhood: Kenwood
Object Name: Painter’s palette
Materials: Wood and acrylic paint
Dimensions: 0.5 × 22 × 8 in.
Provenance: Michael’s art store
This object has been a tool of encouragement.
This palette represents my hidden interest in painting.
I love to paint and painting inspires all of my practices as a multi-disciplinary artist.
—Jordan Campbell
Person Name: Grace Lul
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Object Name: Cotton headwrap
Materials: Steel, cotton
Dimensions: 24 × 24 × 12 in.
Provenance: Purchased from a company called Wrap Life
It represents the ivory-and-black bracelets my family and tribe used to make, and still make to this day, in South Sudan. It is something I value and represents who I am and my family.
It reminds me of the legacy of my family and country despite being removed from it as an immigrant.
—Grace Lul
Person Name: Ari Antos
Neighborhood: Avondale
Object Name: Crusty bug collection
Materials: Cicadas and bees
Dimensions: 0.5 × 1.75 × 0.33 in.
If my collection were a person I would describe it with cool hair, loud and screechy, with a sexy and muscular body—and crunchy.
If there were one word to describe this object it would be Intricate.
—Ari Antos
Person Name: Vanessa Stokes
Neighborhood: Austin
Object Name: Wedding Day
Maker: Chester Sheard
Materials: Silver gelatin
Dimensions: 8 × 0 × 10 in.
Provenance: In a box of my father’s images
This is an image of my parents’ wedding day. I am a collector of images and stories, and I love the stories of my family.
This object is meaningful to me because it’s my family’s.
—Vanessa Stokes
Person Name: Okicize Beauvais
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park
Object Name: Special
Maker: My two friends
Materials: Steel
Dimensions: 0.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 in.
Provenance: I bought the box but the teeth are from two of my friends
Having this object makes me feel loved and appreciated—that two people I really care about gifted me something that is close to them.
[This reflects my personal, cultural, and societal values] because I genuinely enjoy collecting small boxes and this is one of my most important ones.
—Okicize Beauvais
Submit your own object to the Commons Collection at Open Hours on select Tuesdays and Saturdays during the run of the exhibition.
