Subdivision — Ryan Oskin

Subdivision, solo exhibition at Rubber Factory, New York, NY, 2017

In the project Subdivision, I utilize architectural renderings - found posted in the public space enclosing work sites throughout New York - to create new blueprints for each site. These blueprints are made into vinyl prints that interrupt and create new spaces within a given space. The translation of buildings from a two-dimensional surface to a physical entity by architects is mirrored in my own practice.

Blueprints, also known as cyanotypes, were the primary source of reproduction for architectural plans until the 1940’s. For developers, the blueprint is a technical drawing used in conjunction with models to visualize new projects. Today, the idealized digital renderings used to convey to the public the positive effects of these developments appear fraught with the anxieties of daily life. Instances of nature, the city, and its inhabitants can appear both unrealistic or hyperreal. By reverting these fabrications to their historical forms, these determined spaces become suspended between the fictions and realities of our immediate future.