DIGEST scaffolds experimental art, architecture, and design upon a fictional short story narrative in an effort to stoke alternative urban discourse. This dialogue is meant to be widely accessible, and is therefore crafted from the perspective of a young child. The story unfolds at multiple scales and across varied media – purposefully pitting material, color, surface, and story against one another. This multimedia mash-up affords our crew unexpected overlaps in collaboration as well as eccentric exploration within our individual disciplines.
"… TV, a young girl from Detroit, begins to generate urban fantasies which bridge her capricious environment with its incomprehensible commentary. She places this daydream within her favorite place, The Guardian Building, located within present day Detroit. TV ponders the future of this special place while trying to reconcile with the forces which effect her environment. “
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1/ sometimes, TV imagined that monsters were eating the buildings in her city
2/ as she walked, TV would think to herself “...oh here they just took a nibble”, other times surmising “they had really pig’d out”
3/ “good bones” she had once heard a neighbor say, and “just a skeleton” another time
4/ TV couldn’t really understand why some buildings were gobbled up while others seemed to be left alone.
5/ She began to think about her favorite place, The Guardian Building, and wonder if it too would meet with the same fate.
6/ TV likened the colorful tiles with candy, and imagined how sugary the lobby might taste to a monster
7/ “It is a pretty sweet building” she thought aloud - “well lets hope others share your taste in architecture” remarked her mother. “maybe not everybody” TV thought to herself
Status: Built
Location: Detroit, MI, US
My Role: Architect / Illustrator / Fabricator
Additional Credits: artist/2D designer Andrea Cardinal, artist/2D designer Wesley Taylor, artist/3D designer Christopher Schanck, educator/3D designer Peter Beaugard, and journalist/designer Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan