As a 2018-9 J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Winner, Agency worked alongside fellow recipients Bryony Roberts Studio of New York City; Frida Escobedo Studio of Mexico City, Mexico; MASS Design Group of Boston, Massachusetts; and SO-IL of New York City – to present a site-specific installation at the Exhibit Columbus National Symposium, opened in August 2019. Our project – entitled XX – is sited at the AT&T Facility, built in 1978 and designed by Paul A. Kennon.
Inspired by the switching operators that once worked within our site, by the facility’s history of erasures both physical and symbolic, and by Xenia Miller’s transformative influence on the city, XX is a project to connect and reveal invisible stories, particularly those of Columbus’ women. An engaged community process solicited ideas, stories and memories – “Tell us about a woman who changed your life” – channeling their power into a welcoming and powerful temporary landscape that opens onto its surroundings. Over the course of the summer and in collaboration with photographer Sahar Coston-Hardy, we worked with the community to plant a nursery, build a platform for shared experience, and stage a series of community-inspired events. Part event, part homage, part landscape, XX embodies the 21st century public realm – constantly changing, community engaged, texturally rich and culturally inclusive.
Project Images
