Lava Where Once Stood
2014
Archive-based installation, North Park University
North Park University presents: Lava Where Once Stood: objects curated and modified by Jordan Martins
Lava Where Once Stood is an exhibition by Jordan Martins stemming from an investigation into various archives within the North Park University campus. Beginning in the spring of 2014, the artist explored the campus for a variety of “deposits of information”, both in the formal sense (official university archives) as well as informal collections such as physical plant storage areas, theater prop rooms, and defunct supplies in the science building, among others. The show juxtaposes, modifies and recontextualizes the images and objects culled from this process, performing a kind of tea-leaf-reading that seeks points of connection as well as non-linear resonances.
The closing reception of Lava Where Once Stood coincided with the opening and dedication of the university’s newest building, The Johnson Center for Science and Community Life. Among the objects curated in Martins’ exhibition were stones from the foundation of the Wallgren Library, which formerly occupied the space where the Johnson Center was built.
