An excerpt from "You are here and somewhere else" by Melanie Oliver in Artspace's magazine Column.

"To understand the project You Are Here undertook in Gary, it is useful to know a little background information. Situated twenty-five miles from downtown Chicago, Gary was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation as a convenient location for their new steel processing plant. The initial prosperity of the city was due to the booming steel industry that it was built around, but by the 1960s, with offshore competitors challenging US domination of the steel market, the city had entered a state of decline. Unemployment in the city grew, and so too did levels of crime. In the subsequent years many affluent and middle-class residents abandoned Gary, relocating to the surrounding cities and towns. In addition to this, the job losses from the downsizing of the plant meant people left Gary for regions that could offer employment, leaving the town with many empty and disused properties. Another important demographic feature of Gary is its predominantly African American population. At eighty-four per cent in the 2000 census, it has the highest percentage of African American residents among small United States cities. The city boasts some momentous milestones: Gary elected one of the nation's first African American mayors, Richard G. Hatcher, in 1968, and hosted the ground-breaking 1972 National Black Political Convention. Michael Jackson, the infamous king of pop, also grew up in Gary and there is significant celebration of this fact with supporters proposing to erect a museum in his honour, as well as hosting many popular festivities commemorating Jackson each year. However the recent struggling economy has significantly affected Gary and has led to some considerable challenges for the community to tackle.

ReMake Estate was a project made in collaboration with local initiatives that were already seeking avenues of self-empowerment and community control in Gary, such as the Central District Organizing Project and the Higher Art Creative Learning Centre. Arriving with a preconceived idea in mind; to build a community garden and utilise one of the many abandoned houses, You Are Here quickly adapted to suggestions from the community to make it a more freely accessible edible garden and to focus their project upon the exterior of one of the houses, in an effort to enhance what was a desolate site and provide a community endeavour. As both Begg and de Souza have a history of engaging in activism as well as critical art theory, each were particularly conscious of the role that power imbalances can play within this kind of situation and were mindful to incorporate the voices of residents, even though You Are Here would claim the final authorship of the project. Perhaps the now-tedious discussions on Relational Aesthetics and subsequent responses, such as Australian art historian Steven Wright’s warning around relational practices that offer superficial experiences and unwanted services, have encouraged a necessity for self-reflexive and responsible community collaboration, participation and collective action. However, rather than distancing themselves from community-engaged practices, You Are Here continue to embrace the radical potential of working in the world, regardless of the warnings and hesitations of certain critics. Indeed, they unapologetically engage in political commentary. In the words of curator Maria Lind:

This should come as no surprise; when politics in principle are completely steered by economics and the economyfollows a capitalist logic, then culture tends to become an arena for ideological debate. Culture in general, and art in particular, then functions as an avenue where the political is allowed to be enacted, if sometimes covertly… Today we have reached a point where culture and art are not only used as instruments in the political, but they also produce a potent force, something that is palpable…

Jean-Luc Nancy has described community as that which is formed in the wake of society, as what remains as a form of resistance to the immanent power, and this is somewhat overt in the case of Gary, with the surviving community filling in the gaps that the once powerful steel industry left behind. You Are Here were interested in those industries that have developed in its absence, such as barber shops, beauty salons, sex work, airbrush art as well as the proliferation of gangs, drugs and bootleg Michael Jackson merchandise—manifestations of community resilience in the face of eroded economic confidence. Residents of Gary openly express their distrust of societal structures, and with such a legacy of corporate behaviour in the city, it is easy to see why.

The intention of You Are Here to make a difference in the community, and to highlight the concerns of Gary through this project, is clear. In doing so, they encountered the challenge of how to make a collaborative project that was responsive and useful, but the difficulty of how to present this in a meaningful as well as aesthetic way within a gallery context remained. Lind has suggested that political agency and the potential to effect change can exist in the simple act of making art and often elaborates on the benefits of artist-initiated action – as You Are Here attempted with the community of Gary – but how can this be translated as an artistic experience engaged in the political? Separating the two projects, ReMake Estate and Emeraldtown not only acknowledged and avoided the lack of criteria for assessing socially engaged works, but also allowed the Artspace project to function independently from the community-based activities despite being necessarily informed by them."

Full Column text here

Below is an article in the Gary newspaper the Post-Tribune.

Gary inspires project by Australian artists
Dilapidated home used for mural, overgrown lot a garden
July 17, 2010 BY JON SEIDEL

GARY - The bright colors pop through the residential block in the 2400 block of Massachusetts Street, drawing eyes toward an image of a tin man, a lion and a scarecrow. Emblazoned in paint across the front of the empty home are the words "Remake Estate." The characters on the side are drawn not directly from the classic "The Wizard of Oz" but its 1978 reimagining, "The Wiz." And that scarecrow, of course, is Gary native Michael Jackson, who starred in the movie with Diana Ross.
The artwork, by Gary-based Higher Art Creative Learning Center, was prompted by a pair of Australian artists leading a project that includes a community garden by the house. "It just seemed a natural link that he'd be the scarecrow for the garden," said Zanny Begg of You Are Here.
Begg and Keg de Souza, who have worked on similar projects in the Australian suburbs, are in town for an artistic residency funded by the Australia Council for the Arts, according to their website. A grand opening where they will discuss their work is planned for 5 tonight.
The Remake Estate name is drawn from an unrealized Fake Estates project by the artist Gordon Matta-Clark, who bought up unusable slivers of land in New York City. He planned to use them as sites of "anarchitectural interventions" but died before he had the chance. Visitors to tonight's grand opening will have a chance to view the mural painted on the house at 2404 Massachusetts.
Begg said the property was donated by the nearby St. John Baptist Church. County records show the empty lot where Begg and de Souza have planted their garden is owned by the church, but the house is owned by Bin Yun Liu of Chicago, who owes delinquent taxes. The garden, Begg said, will remain after the artists leave town. Filled with peppers, tomatoes, herbs and melons, Begg said it is meant for anyone who wants to pick food from it. "If you take something, just make sure you water them," Begg said.
Begg and de Souza have been working with members of the Central District Organizing Project, a community activist group. While the garden is a short stroll away from the group's headquarters, member Jonathan Wilson said CDOP shouldn't necessarily be the only group caring for it. "We want to try to make it so the whole community does," Wilson said.
Begg and de Souza will also premiere a "thumbnail sketch" of a film they've been preparing that weaves interviews with Gary residents between clips from "The Wiz." Begg said many themes in the movie, such as oppression and broken dreams, can be applied to the problems faced by Gary residents. Even the characters relate to the city, Begg said. The tin man represents the steel mills, while the lion symbolizes courage.
Begg said she and de Souza had a chance to interview Mayor Rudy Clay for their film. "He was really generous with his time," Begg said. However, she said there will be a nod toward a recent comment by the mayor at tonight's event. When he announced plans to build a tribute to Jackson's family last month, Clay said people in Gary sometimes throw "poison in the soup," and he asked them not to derail the project. Begg said soup will be served tonight, despite the heat. She promised it will be healthy and "unpoisoned."

Chicago Post Tribune Article here

Project Blog here

Daniel Tucker for H-Art Magazine here