Infrastructure #4

I thought I would repost this (from Feb. 2010) since CTA is actually starting to repair these stations.

This is the underpass for the L tracks at Lunt and Glenwood.  I seldom see one of these viaducts which isn't falling apart.  Instead of repairing them CTA (and Metra) tends to slap together elaborate steel supports.  Over the years water has seeped through every seam and creates little calcium formations underneath.  I wonder how long it will be until they need to replace all of these.  It would be a good opportunity to make these areas a little less creepy.

And why can't they can't get tenants for most of those little stores under the tracks?  Sure they're dark and cramped, but isn't that a selling point for some businesses?

Downtown vertical strip

Still working my way through some of these composite strips of the city.  This image includes the L tracks in the Loop, one of the lighting standards, an 1870s landmark in the background shadowed by a more modern building above.  It's diffcult to show foreground, middle-ground and background in this 1" x 10" format.  The nice thing about the format is that I can work on 5 or 6 images on the same sheet of illustration board.

Infrastructure/Street Furniture

I thought I would take a closer look at the stuff that I pass by on the way to work,  leaving buildings aside for a change.  These are basically control nodes, which tie into much larger systems stretching through the city.  I had a idea for a project which explores the utlities of Chicago with huge illustrated sections extending up into the buildings and down into the sub-systems.  I haven't given up on that, but I've realized how much work it would require. And it can wait until I can track down some good documentation of those systems. 

The mysterious-looking thing on top of the electrical box below is a coffee cup someone left behind.  I may try to rework that drawing and leave the coffee cup out, since it confuses things and doesn't add anything.  Besides atmosphere, of course.

Infrastructure #7

This is the entrance to the tunnel under Ogilvie Station on Washington Street.  Those things that look like monster eyes (sorry) are actually sodium lamps illuminating the tunnel.  A fairly amazing train station was demolished in order to make room for a big turquois and black skyskraper on Madison.  The section you see above is the part of the building that remained to accomodate the train platforms.  Metra has begun to renovate the areas underneath the train tracks north of Washington into retail stores and markets.  One of their more brilliant ideas. 

Infrastructure #6

This is part of the Washington Street Bridge, which I cross twice a day to get to and from my train at Ogilvie Station.  In the background you can see part of the Daily News Building.  This morning the Chicago River was as smooth as glass.  For some reason I kept expecting half a cow carcass to float to the surface.

Infrastructure #5

Unfortunately, this graphic really didn't work as a 1" x 10" strip.  It's impossible to interpret what you're looking at without some prior knowledge.  But purely as a work it art it's actually kinda interesting.  I especially like the jagged texture of the razor wire. 

But I didn't want to give up on the subject, so I reframed it:

 

Then it became too figurative, and I felt the need to embellish it for no good reason:

To make it even crazier I printed the outline drawing six times and worked on different shading treatments for each one.  I won't inflict those on on any readers just yet.

Anyway, there are a number of these silos near downtown Chicago.  Difficult to tell if they're still operable.  Most of these are now surrounded by residential conversions.

Infrastructure #3

I find myself noticing sign armatures more and more.  Especially in this case, where the signs have long since been removed but the steel supports remain.  These are especially apparent on the 1-story commercial buildings in my neighborhood.  I think there are 3 generations of sign supports in the graphic above.  Since roof signs are now prohibited by the zoning code (with some exceptions) these things no longer serve any purpose whatsoever.  Still, easier to leave them.  At least until they rust away and crash to the sidewalk.

Infrastructure #2

As R. Crumb once said, you can't make up stuff like this.

Every day we're surrounded by the craziest looking structures. Because they’re everywhere they become invisible. I like waiting for trains on the L platform, since it gives you an almost leisurely opportunity to observe stuff like this. There’s a certain artistry even in these step-down transformers.

Infrastructure is not sexy. And generally it's not profitable. That's why government gets saddled with building and maintaining much of it (roads, bridges,  etc). As new technologies require new types of infrastructure the old needs and support systems don't just disappear. That’s what this next set of drawings should illustrate.

Infrastructure #1

Last year I contributed an illustrated article to AREA Chicago, which is a free local newspaper that publishes a variety of articles with a strong activist bent.  Each issue has a particular theme.  The upcoming issue is "Infrastructure."  I'm sure many of the articles will focus on social and political infrastructure, but I hope they won't overlook good old-fashioned built environment, which is my special interest.  So I'm putting together a series of graphics which I'm going to offer for their use. 

For previous issues I submitted drawings I thought would showcase my work.  But a newspaper really isn't the best format for complex graphics.  What works are high contrast images which can be used to break up the text and illustrate broad themes.  So I'm trying to do that. Not my best work, but my best work suited to the medium.  Unfortunately this 1" x 10" format is not at all suited to Blogger.

The image above is taken from Lake Avenue west of the Loop. It's one of those streets that makes me hum the opening to "Taxi," with the elevated tracks overhead. I believe the equipment on the rooftop is for creating concrete mixes. But I may be wrong.