In Allyson Vieira’s work, time is often stretched, folded, and twisted: the present and future treated as if they belong to an ancient archeological site. Her works employ construction materials and debris, reflecting the constant churn of building and demolition around her.

Worker 7ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ Concrete and steel ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Worker 1 ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤConcrete and steel ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤWorker 2ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤConcrete, steel and zebra tape

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤWorker 5 ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤConcrete and steel

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤWorker 6 ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤConcrete and steel

A long-time resident of New York City, Vieira has seen the effects of globalization and gentrification in the city first-hand. Walking among New York’s ever-multiplying demolition and construction sites, she internalizes this simultaneous shifting. The City is neither something being built nor something being destroyed; it lies between what once was and what is becoming. Occupying that liminal space, the work confounds our linear vision of time, uniting past and future within an object, making the present an impossible place to be.

Mundane construction materials combine in the local vernacular. The urban characters of São Paulo, where this series was created, and Brasilia, permeate the works via materials, form, and process. Brazilian high modernism's "space age" buildings were made using the simplest materials: wooden forms, steel bars, poured concrete, and a massive supply of laborers, swelling around construction sites, the evidence of whose hands was later erased through seamless, scale-less finishing.

Block 13ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ Concrete, scraps from Block 12 scraps from Worker ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤBlock 10ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤConcrete, scraps from Block 9ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ scraps from Workerㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤBlock 3ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ Concrete, scraps from ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤBlock 2, scraps from Worker

Block 6ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ Concrete, scraps from Block 5 and scraps from Worker ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Block 9, Block 12ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ Concrete, scraps from Block 8, scraps from Block 11, scraps from Workerㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤBlock 5ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤConcrete, scraps from Block 4, scraps from Workerㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤBlock 2ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤConcrete, scraps from Block 1ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ scraps from Workerㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

In Workers 1-7, Vieira cast concrete and rebar in cardboard tube forms commonly used for quick, inexpensive casting of load-bearing support columns. These Workers hang in exhausted contrapposto. Blocks 1-16 are the same dimensions as the two most common concrete blocks used in Brazil and the U.S. Cast from an amalgam of concrete and scrap materials from the Workers and their Block predecessors, they’re then lightly worked, carved, or painted, creating a feedback loop of materiality within the studio. They sit on the floor; we tower over them. They are the blocks that build our buildings, the blocks that form our cities, the unit form and the whole, material and architecture.

PLAT 11.5 ORDINARY

An OPEN conversation with Li Hu

An OPEN conversation
with Li Hu