Art Metropole

#08647

Martin Hogue: [Fake] Fake Estates, Reconsidering Gordon Matta-Clark's Fake Estates

Artist

Martin Hogue

Price

$18.00

Date

2006

Publisher

Self-Published

Format

Artists' Books

Details

Softcover

Size

21.4 × 27.9 cm

Length

32 

“Best known for his spatially dynamic extractions of large sections of walls and floors from abandoned buildings, Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978) purchased thirteen parcels of residual land, deemed ‘gutter space’ or ‘curb property’, in Queens that had been put on sale for $25 each: a 2.33’ x 355’ long strip of land, a 1.83’ x 1.11’ lot, among others, with the goal of highlighting neglected architectural environments that make up the urban and suburban fabric. The artist created an exhibit of his newly acquired ‘properties’ by assembling for each, and with deadpan accuracy, a photographic inventory of the site, its exact dimensions and location, as well as the deed to the property.

“For [Fake] Fake Estates: Revisiting Gordon Matta-Clark’s Fake Estates, Hogue spent several months systematically canvassing the entire borough of Queens, NY, for residual properties similar to the thirteen parcels purchased there and documented by Matta-Clark in 1975. A work in progress, Hogue’s research seeks to visually articulate those moments when conventions for establishing the location and the precise boundaries of a site produce a conceptual ‘excess of surveying’, inviting speculation as to the value and purpose of land and revealing the conceptual potential of ‘real’ sites – even small and unusable ones (a 1/8” x 110’ property, among others). The drawings, collages, and photographs suggest an intense consideration of the city’s administrative minutia as well as an interest in alternative modes of representation. In them unfolds an aggressive process seeking sites in unexpected locations, or simply in those places we assume do not have architectural potential.”

—from the publisher