ReadysetDC A CREATIVE URBAN ENTERPRISE

Interview: reDISTRICTing

At Artomatic, on the fourth floor, is an art project that somewhat captures the essence of art + culture + development of DC in photo overlay. I was able to chat with John Sawyer and Victor Rortvedt, the minds behind reDISTRICTing.

J. Young: Where did you get the inspiration for reDISTRICTing?

reDISRICTing: We were both motivated by the transformation of certain neighborhoods in Washington over the last few years.  In that time, DC has gone from negative to positive population growth, indulged in a voracious development spree, and witnessed attempts, some successful and others less so, to respect the physical history of the city while building for a new era.  For the most part, we’re impressed with the way that Logan Circle and U Street have been redeveloped in ways that continue to tell the story of the past.
The idea to fuse old and new images comes from an artist who did similar work in St. Petersburg, adding windows into the siege of Leningrad inside modern day images.  We intend for these images to spontaneously demand a narrative from the viewer – they don’t make any sense if the viewer doesn’t create a story in her mind about time and place.  We want our art to make the viewer work to enjoy it.

J. Young: Where did you find the historic photos? What kinds of photos were you looking for?

reDISRICTing: All the images came from Library of Congress digital photo archives, and were in the public domain.  We were looking for images that included architecture that still existed, but where the context of that structure and the neighboring architecture had changed since the photo.  For instance, we found a black and white photo of what was then a rundown power station and what is now the vibrant and colorful (even the street is painted!) Cafe Atlantico.  Both being big Jose Andres fans, the contrast was perfect for reDISTRICTing.

J. Young: Are there any interesting stories behind the photos?

reDISRICTing: One of the best parts of Artomatic has been discussing our photos with patrons who know more about the history of the places than we do.  We learned that Nos. 1 & 2 Logan Circle were at one time owned by a married couple, who then divorced acrimoniously, with each spouse taking a half of the house.  They lived side-by-side, hating each other, for decades and the house fell to rot.  It’s like a Gabriel Garcia Marquez story!

J. Young: You have a very interesting setup at Artomatic. How’d you put that together?

reDISRICTing: Underneath our photos is a collage of stories from 1952 Washington Evening Star newspapers, which was published in DC from 1852 to 1981.  John’s girlfriend Hannah, a DC lifer, had them in her attic for decades.  The stories are incredible and it’s a shame we had to cover them up – there are stories about a proposal to open integrated pools, about a monkey that wears glasses, lots and lots of scotch ads, and editorials about how women may be able to serve a productive role in the workplace.  We hope they complement the ideas of reDISTRICTing from a media angle.  We painted a DC flag over the newspapers to get our subject across from a distance.

J. Young: What has been the response so far?

reDISRICTing: Really great.  The best moment for us is when a person walks up, does a three second review from about six feet away, and then steps in to get a closer look.  People have told us what’s going through their heads with they see our work – oh, photos … of DC … I know that place … wait, why does that look so… !  We’re thrilled that people have been spending ten or fifteen minutes at our site, writing the narratives of the images for themselves.  We’ve also had encouragement to do this project in other cities.  John’s from Cleveland, and the idea of doing it there might flip the context between old and new.  Overall, we’re thrilled that we’ve been able to start conversations about development, urban policy and history in still images of a city where the chief business can often seem like a fight between those advocating for the past versus those advocating for the future.