I(R)L: Interior Landscape Residencies

I(R)L: Interior Landscape Residencies

“Interior landscape” is a synonym for the garden and a metaphor for both the architectural interior and the human mind. Yet, landscapes are inherently extensive—at once relational, outwardly directed, and inconclusive—and interior landscapes present a spatial conundrum as contained conditions that exceed the limits of their enclosure. 

To explore emerging themes in interior landscape, Acute Angles announces I(R)L: Interior Landscape Residencies, an ongoing program of short-term, site-based creative practice and exhibition opportunities based at Space p11, our gallery in the Chicago Pedway. As a network of pedestrian tunnels and bridges, commercial spaces, government facilities, transit stations, and other public and private infrastructure, the Pedway is a significant interior landscape within the Chicago Loop and a counterpoint to the city’s more visible outdoor sites, such as Millennium and Maggie Daley Parks. Used daily by thousands of commuters, residents, and students, the system offers alternative routes through the urban grid, and its spatial complexity and eclectic character make it an ideal location for exploration and creative experiment.

I(R)L is a studio residency for individuals based in Chicago, whether permanently or temporarily. Working in the media of their choice, participants address interior landscape in order to test its implications for specific practices. Residents have access to Space p11 during Pedway hours (Monday–Friday 4am–7pm; Saturday 8am–7:30pm) for terms between 1 and 6 days and will share work with the public through open visits during the residency or exhibition after.

For more information on residency terms or to apply, visit www.space-p11.com/irl.

Tender House Project Open Office: August 14–21, Mejay Gula in Residence

The inaugural Interior Landscape Residency at Space p11, Mejay Gula’s weeklong Tender House Project Open Office, invites the public to contribute ideas, share stories, and help develop a city-wide cultural strategy to engage and activate Chicago’s historic bridgehouses.

Tender House Project is working to realize the latent potential of these iconic yet overlooked structures, proposing them as a discrete yet extensive infrastructure, an interior landscape at urban scale that, when reimagined, will breathe needed life into the city. The civic and cultural awakening of Chicago’s bridgehouses presents an opportunity not only to preserve an important architectural legacy along the river, but also to engage and connect communities now separated by the latter’s engineered edges and water. With 70 bridgehouses spanning 11 miles of the Chicago River system and linking 15 neighborhoods, this undervalued network has potential to transform public thinking about—and engagement with—all of Chicago.