Trans-Mission

Joe Mangrum

Transmission 1998 @ Justin Herman Plaza San Francisco

A process of one week starting on monday ending on friday consisted of taking my broken down Mazda 323 and tearing it apart with ratchets and screwdrivers at my studio Facility 3. After disassembling as much as possible, on tuesday we towed the car to Dan Das Mann's studio Headless Point. James Harbison and I proceeded to use a plasma cutter to cut the car apart through the evening and on wednesday morning hauled most of the car with the exception of the chassis to Justin Herman Plaza in the back of a pickup truck. I then embarked on assembling a city-like composition with the parts of the car and other industrial and technological parts I had gathered. On thursday the process continued, with the help of a homeless man standing Guard overnight to reach the city's security requirement. On friday, we added a truckload of sod with the help of businessmen and passersby that curiously attended, some covered in dirt in their white shirts carrying the sod. We ripped the sod into the shape of an organic creature sprawling across the plaza. At 3pm on friday we declared the project complete and spent the rest of the afternoon riding the elevator to the top floor of the Hyatt hotel to take in a birds-eye view. At 6 o'clock ironically Critical Mass showed up to do their ride. I gather support for "One Less Car" and gather volunteers to help load the installation into the truck. The plaza was clean by 7pm. This Project was made possible by a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the help of many willing and inspiring volunteers. Thank you all! And thanks to Ace Auto Dismantlers for taking the chassis.

to see a quicktime movie of the process 4mb