Exhibitions

SAGE DAWSON: BRICK MYTH

Seed Space / 1201 4th Ave. S., Suite 117 April 1, 2017 - May 20, 2017

Sage Dawson

Brick Myth is inspired by Persian pleasure-pavilions: ornate, paneled tents pitched outdoors for entertaining and gathering. The tent utilizes ornamental patterns based on rescued 19th-century ornamental brick from the National Building Arts Center, a conservatory in Sauget, Illinois. The center houses more than 40,000 ornamental bricks in hundreds of designs and served as a study center for creating Brick Myth. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Saint Louis was an epicenter for the manufacturing of building materials, and much of the face and ornamental brick found in US cities originated in Saint Louis. Brick Myth is also inspired by the Saint Louis Art Museum’s recent exhibition The Carpet and the Connoisseur, as well as Persian miniatures from the permanent collection. Like the rich sunshades, awnings, and fabric pavilions found in Persian miniatures, Brick Myth’s fabric architecture is delicate. Ornamental bricks stack up the rust-like structure and hover over reclining viewers. The tent raises a complicated view of the American city that addresses structure and collapse, and quotidian imagery’s influence on our lives.