REPOhistory

REPOhistory (1989-2000)
An artists’ collective that produced over a dozen collaborative art projects primarily in public locations including New York City and Atlanta, Georgia. The groups mission was to develop site-specific, informational work about the unknown or forgotten histories of working class men and women, of minorities and children. REPOhistory used metal street signs, free maps and the mass media to distribute its counter-historical information. REPOhistory’s projects primarily in public locations including New York City and Atlanta, Georgia. The groups mission was to develop site-specific, informational work about the unknown or forgotten histories of working class men and women, of minorities and children. REPOhistory used metal street signs, free maps and the mass media to distribute its counter-historical information. REPOhistory’s projects include:

* 1992: Lower Manhattan Sign Project, 36 street signs photo-silkscreened on 18″ x 24″. Aluminum panels on the unknown or forgotten history of Manhattan below Chambers Street.

* 1992: Choice Histories, installation on history of abortion & women’s sexuality, Artist’s Space (catalog).

* 1993: March to the African Burial Ground, parade/performance Lower Manhattan.

* 1994: Queer Spaces, pink, triangular street-signs on history of gay/lesbian/trans-gender community, NYC.

* 1996: Buttermilk Bottom, alternative history of Atlanta Georgia & a lost African-American neighborhood.

* 1997: Voices of Renewal, REPOhistorian Tom Klem and Maria Cowser mark the history of the Glen Iris Community in the Forth Ward of Atlanta, GA.

* 1998: Out From Under the King George Hotel, a public art project documenting history of an abandoned hotel in Houston, TX.

* 1998-99: Civil Disturbances: Battles for Justice in New York City, street signs depicting the leveraging of the law to extend rights to disenfranchised peoples. Initially projects was censored by Mayor Guiliani.

* 2000: Circulation, offset postcards, installations and internet site on history of human blood. See also circulation.

CIRCULATION (2000)

High Res Download Here

CIRCULATION (2000) was REPOhistory’s final public art project. It explored the history, aesthetics, and economies of human blood while examining New York City as a specific, circulatory system. The project consisted of thousands of artist-designed postcards circulated through the mail, as well as stickers, magnetic images, installations and a printed map available at various locations in the city during the winter of 2000. For more information see my essay Circulation.