Color photograph of an Asian woman with black and gray hair and a black jacket; she smiles at the camera

Lan Tuazon

Terra Foundation Affiliated Fellow for a Chicago-Based Artist
January 8–July 5, 2024
Profession
Associate Professor, Department of Sculpture, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Project title
Future Fossils: Ever Given
Project description

In Rome I will continue my project called Future Fossils—sculptures made with mass-produced containers, cut and nested to grow layers like the rings of a tree. I will deep dive into the Roman history of material invention and recycling and include Italian-made, mass-produced containers within my archive. When Future Fossils grows to the size of rooms, sculptures become social spaces that present different stages of the circular economy by using waste as a supply and applying methods of material invention to extend the lifespan of materials. In 2024 I will present Future Fossil: Ever Given, where the work will grow to the size of a twenty-foot shipping container, present the circular economy, and apply circular curation with all the materials used in the exhibition. Future Fossils is about the footprint of human consumption, its impacts on planetary stability, and art-making with materials that tell a meaningful past.