NOT WHAT YOU THINK
The Terrain Biennial is unlike any other art festival. It takes place on lawns, in front yards, on porches, beneath awnings, and in windows. Residents partner with artists to bring striking, contemporary artwork into their communities. The theme of this years Terrain Biennial is to take stock of the landscape that people are living in today. What is the terrain that we occupy? What is the topology of our moment? Artists and hosts have been asked to reflect upon the ways in which our environment changes us and how we are changing it.
The selected works by Chicago based Artist Jesse Meredith and French Artist Martin Monchicourt, presented 2 works on the front yard of 423 w High st in Peoria IL, reflect on politic feel surrounding and enveloping us daily.
LOCATION: 423 W HIGHT ST PEORIA, IL 61606
JESSE MEREDITH
Not what you think, 2019
Jesse Meredith is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and photographer. He grew up split between rural and urban environments (Schoharie County, NY and New York City, respectively), which sparked his interest in relationships between ideology, history, and place.
He received a BFA in photography from SUNY Purchase (2009) and an MFA in photography from SAIC (2018), and was awarded the 2018 Weinstein Memorial Fellowship. His work has been exhibited at 062 Gallery, Extase, the Spudnik Annex, Chicago Art Department, Lithium, Filter Photo, the Chicago Book Fair (all Chicago), Et Al Projects (New York), Brenda Gallery (Philadelphia), Seigfred Art Gallery (Ohio), NeMe Art Center (Limassol CY), La Ira De Dios (Buenos Aires AR), among other virtual and physical spaces.
We each derive our sense of self from many sources, both chosen and imposed by social forces. NOT WHAT YOU THINK is a public, reconfigurable poem. It builds a maze of factors that shape experience, asking us to navigate our intentional and accidental identifiers. Taking the form of the ubiquitous lawn signs used to advertise everything from political candidates to predatory lenders to yard sales, the work both succeeds and fails to blend in with its surroundings. Dimensions Variable. 12x18” screen-printed coroplast lawn signs, H-stakes. Edition of 1. 2019
MARTIN MONCHICOURT
National flag, USA, mixed RGB 2019
The Schmidler S4 and the K2 are digitally operated machine tools designed to manufacture traditional carpentry. They mimic hand-crafted production. My work focuses on normalisation, standardisation, profitability. My pieces’ craftsmanship has an industrial finish to it, which I simulate. They are like prototypes, potentially useable for mass production, and bring into conflict industry, craftsmanship and know-how. I take everyday life elements and make them experience a mutation, a movement. I use the codes used in architecture, in building, and in household, mixing public and private. The objects, spaces and situations I create look functional, planned. They actually are not productive or useable. My sculptures, my installations force and direct the viewer, who becomes one with the space. He then realizes the meaning and non-use of my pieces.