Takashi Horisaki

Social Dress New Orleans – 730 days after, 2007
Latex, cheesecloth, remnants of Katrina-damaged house, steel pipe, steel wire cable
18 x 12 x 30 feet

Social Dress New Orleans – 730 days after is the culmination of a three-month effort at 1941 Caffin Avenue, located in the still-devastated Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood. Appling layer upon layer of latex mixed with paint to the exterior of a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina, then peeling them off after they had dried, Horisaki created a textured 3-D print of the structure. This fabric-like rubber skin was then transported to New York and hung on a steel-and-wire frame, mimicking the shape and dimensions of the original structure.

Juxtaposing the bustling New York skyline with physical remnants of destruction in New Orleans, this piece was envisioned as a way to make the tragedy of New Orleans tangible to those far removed from the disaster. The political and physical struggle to create this work was also documented on Horisaki’s blog at http://www.socialdress-neworleans.blogspot.com.

Documentation of the production process and a listing of the volunteers and donors who made this project possible can be seen here.