Known for his projects like Invisible Jumpers, is interested in perception and intervention. His ongoing series, Impossible Street Art, invites artists such as , , and to imagine their work in monumental landscapes via a bit of sleight of hand. The artists create interventions on Ford’s photographs, which he then documents on an easel in front of that same place to give a sense of what these huge paintings or installations would feel like in situ.
“These new works mostly explore infrastructure in the form of huge concrete constructions—nuclear power plants, dams, fossil fuel power stations,” Ford says. The locations are often connected to the industries and network of energy production, such as hydropower systems, or logistical configurations related to highways and ports.
For example, the nuclear power station “painted” by is situated in a sprawling nature preserve on England’s east coast, adjacent to the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape, and is currently under construction despite much local opposition.
“These locations are physically in the public domain and dominate their surroundings through their huge scale, but often have restricted access. They are imposed on us—it is impossible not to see them—but it is impossible to engage with them, use them, or sometimes even approach them.” By superimposing street art on otherwise inaccessible sites, Ford and the participating artists address these looming constructions and the nature of energy production as “a way of reclaiming and engaging with them,” he says.
See Ford’s work this month at in Chicago, which runs from April 9 to 12. Find more on .
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