Fake Estates
In the early 1970s, Gordon Matta-Clark discovered that the City of New York periodically auctioned off “gutterspace”, which were unusably small pieces of land that had been sliced out from the city grid through mistakes or accidents in the surveying process during public-works expansion. He purchased fifteen of these lots, fourteen in Queens and one in Staten Island. Over the next years, he collected the maps, deeds, and other bureaucratic documentation attached to the slivers; Matta-Clark died in 1978 at the age of 35 without realizing his plans for Fake Estates, and ownership of the properties reverted back to the city. The archival material that he had assembled went into storage and was not rediscovered until the early 1990s, when it was assembled into exhibitable collages. Fake Estates has emerged again as an important peek into ownership and materiality. His deconstruction of the ideal land and space ownership provides an interesting viewpoint on the "American Dream" to own a home with a white picket fence, a dog and a cat, and 2.5 children. Through purchasing idle lots and pieces of land, Matta-Clark was beginning to enact upon the idea of becoming an owner of the useless.
Posted by Ricky Peters
In the early 1970s, Gordon Matta-Clark discovered that the City of New York periodically auctioned off “gutterspace”, which were unusably small pieces of land that had been sliced out from the city grid through mistakes or accidents in the surveying process during public-works expansion. He purchased fifteen of these lots, fourteen in Queens and one in Staten Island. Over the next years, he collected the maps, deeds, and other bureaucratic documentation attached to the slivers; Matta-Clark died in 1978 at the age of 35 without realizing his plans for Fake Estates, and ownership of the properties reverted back to the city. The archival material that he had assembled went into storage and was not rediscovered until the early 1990s, when it was assembled into exhibitable collages. Fake Estates has emerged again as an important peek into ownership and materiality. His deconstruction of the ideal land and space ownership provides an interesting viewpoint on the "American Dream" to own a home with a white picket fence, a dog and a cat, and 2.5 children. Through purchasing idle lots and pieces of land, Matta-Clark was beginning to enact upon the idea of becoming an owner of the useless.
Posted by Ricky Peters