Posted by Philip Barash in CLA Blog on 8/27/2012

Pop-Up Art Loop is on tour. Starting on August 27, it'll alight in Italy as part of the Venice Architecture Biennale -- one of the juried entries presented by the United States in its official pavilion.

In one way, Pop-Up is hyper-local. is very much from, for, and of Chicago. The program began three years ago as a response to specific, local, challenges, among them the vacant Loop storefront spaces left in the wake of the real estate crisis. It draws talent from a community of Chicago-based creative practitioners. It helps property owners show and lease retail space. And it betters the lives of residents and visitors who encounter art and activity where empty space would otherwise blight the urban fabric. 

And yet the Pop-Up program is at the forefront of a global phenomenon. It's part of a shift towards projects that are, according to the Biennale organizers, "provisional, improvisational, guerrilla, unsolicited, tactical, temporary, informal, DIY, unplanned, participatory, open-source." The U.S. Pavilion is themed around "Spontaneous Interventions" and like other featured projects, Pop-Up Art Loop emphasizes informality over structure, mobility over permanence, and participation over product. So it's only fitting that our local solution is lauded overseas as a replicable model for other local solutions worldwide. 

Arrivederci, Pop-Up. Happy travels. We're proud of you. We wish we were coming with.

Ciao.

 

Tags: Pop-Up Art Loop, art, Chicago, Venice Biennale, Spontaneous Interventions

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