How do state structures impose and suggest power in the public sphere? Through an investigation of state buildings, particularly those that house authority, legal enforcement and have colonial references, this collaboration considers how public buildings imply dominance of one group over others. Using methods of analysis from social science and the articulation of architecture through art, Ayesha Singh (MFA candidate, Sculpture, SAIC) and Elizabeth Jordie Davies (PhD student, Political Science, UChicago) focus on American and Indian structures, and their legacies of racism and colonialism through their temporal and political context of creation.

Faculty Advisors: Michael Dawson (Professor, Political Science, UChicago) and Jefferson Pinder (Professor, Sculpture, Contemporary Practices, SAIC) Funded by the Graduate Division, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Jordie Davies is a political scientist with an interest in American Politics and Political Theory. Her research and writing interests include Black politics and political thought, US social movements, solidarity, and Black feminism. Davies' research agenda focuses on the influence of social movements on political attitudes, activism, and political participation.

We created a “Ghost Monument” with rubbings from a confederate statue in Jordie’s hometown. This ominous piece lifts the words etched on the side of the monument and suspends them in time– removing them from their structure, their claimed historical relevance. The mode of presentation emphasizes their historical insignificance. This installation demonstrates how historical markers haunt and inhabit public space.