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Wrigleyville

The Objective:

Pick an X,Y point (eg, a specific streetcorner) and photograph 100 signs within a 1,000 step diameter. East/West/North/South...no matter. Just stay within 500 steps of the X,Y point in any direction.

Rules, or at least the rules I imposed on myself:

1. No Graffiti (that's an entire discipline unto itself )

2. Exterior Signs only. We could all walk into a pub and find 100 interesting signs, but it doesn't tell us about the neighborhood.

3. Signs should be permanent. Stickers don't count, unless they're stuck to a sign.

4. House numbers count. They convey information and they're permanent. (At least that's the logic.)

5. Architectural embellishments don't count. This one was tough, because there are some beautiful pieces of art hidden on public buildings. But when I look at them, it starts to dilute the overall picture, the "mission" if you will.

The Concept


If you've ever stood in Times Square at midnight, emerged from the Tube stop at Picadilly, or sworn in anger as you drove in circles looking for street directions, then you know the power that signs or "signage" (hate that term) holds over us. Advertising...Instructions...Clarifications... Information...signs are everywhere. When you live in a large city you start to become immune to them, assimilate them, and ignore them. But they can be amusing, powerful, and manipulative in their own way.

I thought it would be interesting to see how many signs I could find in my neighborhood, and specifically signs that I became 'immune' to. But 'neighborhood' seemed like it could stretch forever, or at the very least it seemed as though there would be little discpline to the project.

So I created some simple rules which are outlined below the slideshow. The results of my initial set are on this page. Immediately I started to wonder "What would this be like in other neighborhoods? Other cities? What does it say about MY neighborhood? What information does it bring to light and what does it hide? If you looked at these photos would you realized that the median home cost for this zip code is $313,000?

The possibilities seem intriguing and endless. It would be impossible and counter-productive to the premise of the project to house everything in one spot. It's a social endeavor. As such, I'm working to get the site set up as a 'portal' for people to upload their own unique sets right away. We'll see what the future holds, but for now...enjoy.

- Jay Clark, Chicago, March 2009