highlights from the soon-to-be published "unearthing chicago" bldg. 51 museum book

the following photographs (and collages) were taken from more than 546 folders containing over 9,800 images of jobsites and salvage work "in the field," as well as unearthed artifacts cleaned and assembled in my studio afterward. all of my urban excavation began two years ago, after the discovery of a single william h. hutchinson (whh) cobalt blue soda bottle at the very bottom of a wood-lined circular privy pit dating to 1855.  what has essentially been a self-funded project will soon culminate in the publication "unearthing chicago."

that single "whh" bottle set off a maniacal obsession with the refuse hiding in subterannean pockets across the city, where past chicagoans left fragmentary traces of their all but forgotten day-to-day lives. i am continually absorbing the aura of their forgotten lives through the remnants they left behind, and digging deep into the cavities where their homes and buildings once stood has helped answer a simple question that i sought to answer from the beginning - what city lies under our feet?