I Dreamed Your Utopia

2011
Hand-shredded silk flower
Hotel Florence, Pullman Historic District | Chicago, Illinois

As a part of the Mosnart program series, Hur carefully responds to a place where people lived, worked, and dreamt of their utopia. Built by George Pullman to house workers of his railroad company in the 1880s, Hur was invited to this historic district of Chicago. I Dreamed Your Utopia searches for impermanent, yet resilient residue of the lost history that reveals both flourishing and failing of one’s utopia with passing of time and economic depression.

Installed at the Hotel Florence named after Pullman’s eldest daughter, Hur continues her series of intricate, re-appropriated silk flower installations. The community of Pullman, Hur’s friends from Chicago, and family from Atlanta came together to complete this labor-intensive installation. This collective effort strikes a contrast to the economic and social exclusivity and privilege once held at the Hotel Florence for Pullman’s family and his executive guests. The occupancy of artistic, communal, and often invisible immigrant labor draws attention to the paradox of utopia.

More Installation Images from Mosnart