Takashi Horisaki

Social Dress Buffalo: The Past Reflecting the Future, 2010
Latex, acrylic pigment, cheesecloth, PVC pipe, rope, debris from abandoned homes
14 x 14 x 6.5 feet

Latex skin casts of architectural details from a cross section of the many abandoned homes in inner-city Buffalo were cast and collected by the Horisaki and a team of student volunteers from local architecture and urban planning programs. In the process of making and collecting these casts, students naturally interacted with curious residents of these communities, often leading to more in-depth conversation about what life is like in these neighborhoods affected by the depopulation of inner-city Buffalo. Through the art-making process the artist sought to avoid the social hierarchies of direct community intervention in order to open up a space for more constructive, personal conversation with residents by students who may be making decisions on these neighborhoods in the future. The collected latex casts were then collaged across the surface of a geodesic dome, creating a potential meeting space for further conversation on novel solutions to the challenges Buffalo faces. At the same time the completed architectural sculpture serves as an indirect record of these encounters and a symbol of the histories with which the local community has struggled.