Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster: Pipelines

Pipelines is a temporary, outdoor, public art installation by Canadian artists Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster presented by the Biennial of the Americas with Artistic Direction by Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum. Opened in conjunction with the inaugural Cities Summit of the Americas, the project was designed and commissioned for Denver’s Plaza of the Americas. Pipelines is a playful, interactive artwork that repurposes over 100 PVC water and sewer pipes.

“Pipelines is both a social infrastructure and a commentary on essential water infrastructure. The blue, green, and pink in the artwork derive from the colors used by the PVC pipe industry to identify fresh water, sewage, and grey water, respectively. We use them to signify the cyclical nature of resource management: supply, waste, and recycling. The installation aims to make visible and prominent a resource and system that is vital, yet often taken for granted or ignored–an attitude no longer possible in times of scarcity and environmental crisis. To emphasize material circularity with the project, at the end of the installation all pipes will be returned to the manufacturer and processed back into new pipe. As a social infrastructure the project offers a prompt for people to linger and interact in public space.” —Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster, artists.

Special thanks to: JM Eagle, Consulate General of Canada to the United States in Denver, Denver Metropolitan District, Riverfront Park Community Foundation, and the David and Laura Merage Foundation. 

Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster are Toronto-based artists, designers and educators who have collaborated since 2003. They create spaces and objects that interrupt everyday situations in critically engaging and playful ways. Their multi-disciplinary practice focuses on “social infrastructures” which seek to build community by fostering playful interactions in physical space. Their academic research focuses on the role of play in the built environment and alternative methods of documentation as a form of historic preservation. They are the authors of Growing up Modern: Childhoods in Iconic Homes (Birkhäuser, 2021). They have exhibited in galleries, made temporary outdoor installations, and realized permanent public artworks in Canada, USA, Germany, France, Italy and South Korea, including solo shows at Vtape in Toronto, the Weissenhofwerkstatt in Stuttgart and Gallery Kolektiv 318 in Marseille. (Website, @ckandjj)

Black Cube is a nonprofit, nomadic art museum that produces site-specific art in the public realm regionally, nationally, and internationally. The organization endeavors to nurture the sustainability of today’s artists and inspire audiences across the globe to discover contemporary art beyond the confines of traditional gallery spaces. Founded in 2015 by philanthropist Laura Merage, Black Cube is headquartered in Colorado and incubated by the David and Laura Merage Foundation. The museum holds a W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy) certification, reinforcing its commitment to ethical labor relations with artists and preserving the notion that art is critical in forming a vibrant, just, and healthy society. Since its inception, Black Cube has supported over two hundred artists and produced projects in and outside of the United States. (Website, @blackcube.museum)

The Biennial of the Americas builds connections, creates community and inspires change across the Americas through year-round art, policy, and business programming as well as ongoing leadership summits in Canada and Latin America. Due to its location on the North-South axis, this Denver nonprofit organization was launched in 2010 by civic leaders in Colorado to enhance, celebrate and discover the cultural and economic connections between North and South America. The Biennial assembles the most innovative leaders in the Western Hemisphere to identify unique opportunities and solutions to our shared challenges. (Website, @thebiennial)