Builders of the Universe

As part of the series Pop-Up Northrop: Igniting Big Ideas, explore the architecture of memory through a participatory public art installation, projection, and sound installation featuring live electronic music by John Keston. In collaboration with the Minneapolis Art on Wheels collective and led by adjunct instructor and artist Aaron Marx, this project explores the role of memory in public space, considers student civic engagement as a tool for artistic expression, and uses ancient tools of memory building within the context of contemporary practice. Through a workshop titled “Builders of the Universe,” students considered personal and collective memories to develop projections and sound installations reflecting on our past, meditating on our present, and speculating on the future. In parallel with the School of Architecture’s centennial celebration and in conversation with the revitalization of Northrop, this work considers the dramatic shifts in culture and architectural thinking over the past 100 years and speculates on where we might be headed in the future.

Created by Aaron Marx, Justin Aungst, Moriah Baltz, Jazzmyne Brown, Olivia Coughlin, Jordan Dalluge, Thomas Ducastel, James McCalvy, Lorren Mueller, Takeru Nakata, Erik Nelson, Brian Petereck, Kierra Thomas, Tara Werkmeister, and Jessica White, and featuring live electronic music by John Keston.

Free and open to all!

Pop-Up Northrop: Igniting Big Ideas is a series of spontaneous pop-up events, building transformations, social objects, and an interactive online hub that together will launch our new vision for Northrop as a center for academic distinction, innovation, and discovery as the University’s preeminent cultural and performing arts center, when we reopen this spring.