What turns a random space into a place? What inscribes history into it, or lends it significance? These questions occupy the installation artist Sondra Perry in her current piece, A Terrible Thing, for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland. On Euclid Street in the heart of Cleveland, Perry carries out a kind of archaeological study of the street’s history, using video, pictures found online, and digital methods of representation. The infrastructure of the race representation as well as the architectural structure and its gender-political effect in everyday function, the finished complex, and the work done to erect it are all related to each other for the purpose of dealing with issues of identity—of a city, a society, and of individuals. This work became a prism of times and perspectives that can now be imagined with the help of this publication.

SONDRA PERRY (*1986, Perth Amboy, New York) is known for her computer-generated videos, installations, and performances. Her works examine questions of identity and family history, as well as of technology.

EXHIBITIONS
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland  
April 28—August 11, 2019
Kunsthal Aarhus 
October 4, 2019—January 5, 2020

SONDRA PERRY (*1986, Perth Amboy, New York) is known for her computer-generated videos, installations, and performances. Her works examine questions of identity and family history, as well as of technology.