CASCODE
CASCODE is a public artwork that uses organic forms, natural materials and data-informed design to represent the intersection of environment, health, community and data, and its collective impact on West Philadelphia residents. Built in conjunction with Amy Gutmann Hall, a new interdisciplinary data engineering and science center at the University of Pennsylvania, the installation measures approximately 60 feet high. CASCODE will be completed and installed in 2024 on the facade of the parking garage adjacent to Gutmann Hall at the northeast corner of 34th and Chestnut Streets.
CASCODE translates hard data into interactive artwork through incorporation of information from a range of sources including in-person design charrettes with community stakeholders, historical research into West Philadelphia, and existing data sets that relate to West Philadelphia. A large part of the CASCODE project’s design includes an online component in which a range of stakeholders — community members, students and faculty occupying Gutmann Hall, and Penn at large — that can respond to engaging prompts that provide data, which will in turn be used to inform CASCODE’s final form.
The installation will be designed to animate the building illustrating the importance of information as an instrument to promote equitable health and compassionate empathy. In all stages of CASCODE’s development and launch, Atlanta-based arts nonprofit Dashboard will manage and produce public programming and engagement activities.
Commissioned by: The University of Pennsylvania/ PHDC, Permanent Public Sculpture Commission
To follow CASCODE’s progress and to get involved, follow @cascode.project on Instagram and visit: http://www.dashboard.us/cascode
eo Studio
2024
CASCODE is a public artwork that uses organic forms, natural materials and data-informed design to represent the intersection of environment, health, community and data, and its collective impact on West Philadelphia residents. Built in conjunction with Amy Gutmann Hall, a new interdisciplinary data engineering and science center at the University of Pennsylvania, the installation measures approximately 60 feet high. CASCODE will be completed and installed in 2024 on the facade of the parking garage adjacent to Gutmann Hall at the northeast corner of 34th and Chestnut Streets.
CASCODE translates hard data into interactive artwork through incorporation of information from a range of sources including in-person design charrettes with community stakeholders, historical research into West Philadelphia, and existing data sets that relate to West Philadelphia. A large part of the CASCODE project’s design includes an online component in which a range of stakeholders — community members, students and faculty occupying Gutmann Hall, and Penn at large — that can respond to engaging prompts that provide data, which will in turn be used to inform CASCODE’s final form.
The installation will be designed to animate the building illustrating the importance of information as an instrument to promote equitable health and compassionate empathy. In all stages of CASCODE’s development and launch, Atlanta-based arts nonprofit Dashboard will manage and produce public programming and engagement activities.
Commissioned by: The University of Pennsylvania/ PHDC, Permanent Public Sculpture Commission
To follow CASCODE’s progress and to get involved, follow @cascode.project on Instagram and visit: http://www.dashboard.us/cascode
Invasive Species
Since Fall 2021, AAI has been working on a project conceived by the 2022 Artists-in-Residence Ashley Gripper and Sonia Galiber (Land Based Jawns and Soil Generation), and developed by Eto Otitigbe (eo Studio) called Invasive Species. Highlighting the Cut, a sub-street level, open-air green space that runs parallel to Callowhill Street from North Broad Street to behind the Rodin Museum, the project’s intent is to call attention to natural land systems and plant life that give respite to urban areas. Our goal is to demonstrate how integral these passive ecosystems are in creating critical resources for community residents and passersby. In showing stages of life in the natural environment of an ignored patch of Philadelphia’s greenscaping, we also aim to demonstrate the tremendous potential of art to assist in understanding public infrastructure, the beauty of unseen corners of the city, and the role we can play as cultural producers in climate mitigation.
The culmination of the community engagement process will be a mixed reality presentation in Fall 2023 that invites visitors to use technology to cross-pollinate the Cut’s diverse plant life with narratives about cultural and physical migration. Invasive Species also includes sound sculptures that will be temporarily installed around the Cut. A selection of personal narratives and migration stories told by the community members will be incorporated into the final performance.
eo Studio
Site-specific installation
2023
Since Fall 2021, AAI has been working on a project conceived by the 2022 Artists-in-Residence Ashley Gripper and Sonia Galiber (Land Based Jawns and Soil Generation), and developed by Eto Otitigbe (eo Studio) called Invasive Species. Highlighting the Cut, a sub-street level, open-air green space that runs parallel to Callowhill Street from North Broad Street to behind the Rodin Museum, the project’s intent is to call attention to natural land systems and plant life that give respite to urban areas. Our goal is to demonstrate how integral these passive ecosystems are in creating critical resources for community residents and passersby. In showing stages of life in the natural environment of an ignored patch of Philadelphia’s greenscaping, we also aim to demonstrate the tremendous potential of art to assist in understanding public infrastructure, the beauty of unseen corners of the city, and the role we can play as cultural producers in climate mitigation.
The culmination of the community engagement process will be a mixed reality presentation in Fall 2023 that invites visitors to use technology to cross-pollinate the Cut’s diverse plant life with narratives about cultural and physical migration. Invasive Species also includes sound sculptures that will be temporarily installed around the Cut. A selection of personal narratives and migration stories told by the community members will be incorporated into the final performance.
©2024