For the next 14 weeks, we will be presenting, one by one, each Stored Potential banner and designer.  Since we are essentially creating one grand mural through individual perspectives, doing so incrementally seems appropriate leading up to the October 3 giant dinner day.

We’d like to present Week #1 Banner ‘Bacon’ by M. Brady Clark.  His image is striking, simple, and speaks volumes about the Midwest.  Although it isn’t the ‘beef’ Nebraska is most identified with, nor is it condoned by vegetarian friends, it is nonetheless symbolic and representative of the place and certainly the landscape. The visiting jurors even commented that Omaha is also ‘pork’ town after their weekend in the city.  Meat is an important cultural identifier and aptly so since the mastodons crossed the Bering Straight Land Bridge from Asia to North America and entered the Great Plains some 10 million years ago. When the glaciers formed the massive ridges of sand dunes over north central Nebraska 5 million years later, the giant bison entered the picture and from then on, the great plains supported herbivores consuming up to 1,000 pounds of grass per day.  As late as the mid-1880s, undisturbed prairie still covered most of the heartland.  But following the Civil War when confederate money was worthless in the impoverished South, Texas cattlemen put herds on the trails north to Nebraska. (Nebraska Cattleman Association)

And here is where M.Brady Clark, hailing from Austin, Texas, enters the picture. He is no stranger to Omaha with his graphics work for Saddle Creek’s band Cursive, a connection the jury discovered at the end of the day when the identity of entrants was released, thus explaining the ‘Omaha feel’ to this submission.  Aside from Bacon, Clark has spent years in apparel, logo, and print design with an impressive list of clients represented by his company Four Eyes Are Better Than Two.  Although his brainstorming partner is not a pig or cow (I argued that his submission could represent a really long flank), but rather a 6 foot tall taxidermy shark, M. Brady claims that his work is a culmination of the right opportunities mixed with creativity.  And that might be precisely what occurred here.  According to M. Brady, “My work is simply to use my God-given gift to make things better and more beautiful.”  Representing Bacon at nearly 80′ tall, on a grain elevator, might be the perfect combination of literal (grain transfer to animal protein) combined with scale to create abstract beauty.

M. Brady’s ‘Bacon’ is less about specific species of animal, but more about place, consumption, and culture.  Juror Mason White declared ‘Bacon’ as ‘out-Warholing’ another submission that directly referenced the quintessential Warhol exhibit The American Supermarket, which depicted a small supermarket where everything – from the produce, canned goods, meat, posters on the wall, etc. – was created by six prominent artists confronting the general public with pop art as the perennial question of what art is (or what it is not).  Perhaps Bacon, or less specifically, meat in general, is Midwest art?  Or more precisely in the context of the elevator and narrowly shaped silos only to be rivaled by corn……………….stay tuned.

Nonetheless, M. Brady claims his biggest challenge is to design with his client and project in mind first without adding in too much of his own aesthetic. In this instance, Clark’s clever style was a good fit when he claimed that “everything is better with bacon” which I have heard numerous vegetarian friends utter at various breakfast gatherings.

Learn more about Clark’s Bacon Artery Series.

Photo by Holly McAdams, Community Arts Manager, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

On May 22, only 5 days after the deadline for entries, the Stored Potential jury convened in the back gallery at The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. For 4 jurors, the task seemed simple: choose 14-images for print at 20′x80′ to temporarily re-clad the concrete silos comprising a vacant elevator near Omaha’s downtown.  The morning began with a site visit to provide a physical understanding of the massiveness of the project; creating and displaying images at this scale, for the whole world to see,  and possibly even NASA satellites, is not a flippant act.  With no precedent as reference, they approached the diverse proposals to work through a course of action.

Corn. There was lots of it. Enough that Mason White was repeatedly heard saying: “oh don’t you worry, there will be corn.”    Discussion was focused on the varied representation of the plant Zea mays and how it is central in the thought of even artists and designers. It is the mascot of Nebraska. The jury leaned towards entries that went a step further than the literal cob or kernel, narrowing them down to a corn in husk re-imaged as barcode when scanned by a mobile phone will direct the user to a website listing all its byproducts, corn as an artistic compilation of parallel lines – a metaphor for the fields that bear the crop, and corn kernels as farmer crowdsourcing to paint the final banner.

Concept. How a central guiding idea is conceived, represented, and executed.  The jurors discussed the importance of a concept that guides the packaging of a submission and also relates directly to the overall project – land use, agriculture, and food.  Juror Jeff Day made suggestions how strong entries could become stronger by refining the written description or even adding one more image to further explain the designers process or link it more directly to the overall project initiative.  In general, the more the jury was informed about the genesis and development of the idea, the longer it remained on the boards.  One such idea superimposed a well head and below ground well from Western Nebraska onto a silo using the height of the concrete structure to measure the depleting levels of the Ogallala Aquifer.  Another employed a series of diminishing black dots represented in various perspectives and 3D models to create the illusion of an hourglass, or pinched, silo.  And a third conceptual entry positioned land use as another type of ‘production’ with an aerial sliver of Omaha where agriculture meets a developing parcel meets a fully developed one by reinterpreting the transition as a colorful composition of lines.

Scales. The jury quickly declared the importance of images that convey meaning at numerous physical scales. Juror Jamie Hand asked interesting questions regarding scale: What is the perspective from a passing vehicle at 70mph versus a visit to the site? Will the image at the larger scale lead someone to visit the site to learn more?  What about the play on scale of the image itself such as a pastel drawing of a rusty hand cultivator that at this scale and next to the interstate becomes almost infrastructural itself.  And what about numerous scales of thought?  Is it exactly what a viewer sees, or is there more behind the image such as re-purposing the banner post-exhibition as political action, reforming into usable objects?  Juror JD Hutton made an apt metaphor about ‘harvesting the banners’ that was proposed by one submission that created a land patterned quilt of hexagons, each containing tiny print “Speak Up for Small Farms”.  After the exhibition, the hexagons will be cut out and mailed to all U.S. Senators and Representatives by a regional group of small farmers.

Lawsuit. Avoiding lawsuits for Emerging Terrain was an important consideration.  Did the artist credit the image used?  Copyrighted fonts, copyrighted ideas, copyrighted images – they were present throughout the submissions.

Composition. How do the images work with one another as a composite facade? This became the most difficult part of the day as images were arranged, rearranged, and rearranged again on a printout of the elevator.  It was here that the jury’s ‘personality’ became apparent: patterns and viewer interaction.  And, pop art: a large piece of bacon with a small ‘AMEN’ written below that Mason White declared as “out-Warholing” another submission that directly referenced Warhol, and a graphic pop art interpretation of elevator Drive Sheds. Finally, a submission that fits no category other than purely beautiful: a crayon drawing of Tomatoes neatly cropped to the proportions of the silo and the simplest of concept statements by a 10-year old who lives near the elevator.

Conclusion. The jury chose 14 submissions to be short-listed for the next stage that requires developing a portion of the image at full-print scale for a mock up to test how it will read on the elevator.  Several images that were not short-listed were recommended differently than intended – one is being commissioned as the menu for the epic dinner.

Each submission received contributed tremendously to the enthusiasm of the project.  Thank you to everyone who generously participated by creating.

Contributors to above composite (in no particular order): Ashley Johnson, Julie Bogdanowicz, Aaron Cohen, DeOld Andersen Architecture, Brian Stromquist, Seth Taras, Ben Raines, Mary Zicafoose, Les Bruning, M. Brady Clark, Craig Lee, Tom Prinz, Richard Brock, Joey Lynch, Elle Lien, Jordan Geiger, Will Quintana, Gerard Lange, Peg Reinecke, Gary Jameson, Leslie Parker, Cleo Buster, Jamie Thiessen, Joseph Broghammer, Jeremy Reding, Mary Day, Irena Piechota, Joy Taylor, Andreas Symietz, Tory Burke,  Amber Eve Anderson,  Linda Koutsky,  Sheung-Yi Ng, Joe Pankowski, MJ Rezac, Matthew Bissen, Jacob Hoppe,  Scott Keyes, Emily Mechesney, Cathy Solarana, Doris Rowe, Michel Mason, William Holland, Skye Hawkins, Mitchell Gelber, Cecilia Lueza, Tim Lewis, Jean Mason, Alex Jochim, Krista Hulshof, Brittan Rosedahl, The Office of PlayLab Inc., Robert Trempe, Kevin Penrod, Blair Guppy, Darlene Montgomery, Greg Johnson, Christine Cortina,  Bemis Press,  Todd Gilens, Chris Shelley, Shaun Smakal, Matthew Farley, Mike Giron, Cat DeBuse, Kim Reid Kuhn, Kristin Pluhacek, Michael Alstad, Leah Lazariuk, Luisa Caldwell, Cat and Ray Dalupang, SLO Architecture, Leigh Merrill, Kaleen Enke, Ben Ruswick, Brian Kelly, Deb McColley, Rodney Rahl, William Watson, Adelina Castro, Derrick Presnall, Darci Presnall, Jennie Wilson, Joshua Serck, Cait Irwin, Katharine Rapkin, Tinca Joyner, Nicholas Pella, Emily Nemens, Lea Schuster, Safora Khoylou, Jennifer Eurell, Art Garcia

The deadline for submissions is being extended to Monday, May 17 at 11:59pm CST to allow the entirety of the weekend to complete awesome pieces of design for the grain elevator.  Thanks to the many who have already sent us your submissions.

22,000 SQ. FT. is the mantra recited in Nick Sopers head these days.  As Emerging Terrain’s Banner Installation Program Assistant, he is responsible for figuring out how to hang 22,000 square feet of art on the enormous convex concrete silo structures and then making it happen.

We immediately thought of Nick for this endeavor, for a variety of reasons.  Almost 10 years ago, while taking a park planning course with our director, Anne, Nick relayed an adventure story from his weekend.  Apparently he and a friend decided to gather up their rock climbing gear and put it to use on a nearby abandoned grain elevator.  When mountains are not a part of the local landscape vernacular, the creative, adventure seeking imagination will begin to see anything large and vertical as a potential mountain.  Not really thinking about this adventure as trespassing, Nick and his friend were surprised to soon be in conversation with a local law enforcement agent.

Nick is a landscape architect having recently acquired a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Colorado – Denver and currently conducts site-specific landscape interventions with the Nebraska Department of Roads. Although he is interested in all aspects of design and planning, what really gets him worked up is construct-ability – how all the parts work together.

Nick previously managed budgeting and installation of projects based on written construction specifications for smaller landscape projects throughout Nebraska and Colorado.  In Nick’s spare time he is an avid recreational rock climber, cyclist, and bike mechanic, which combined with his experience overseeing construction, brings the necessary skills to plan and coordinate this massive installation.  Come September, Nick will regularly be seen dangling by a rope or standing on a giant hydraulic lift at the grain elevator.

1.What does the attachment mechanism of the banners to the structure look like?

The banners will be folded over a curved steel bar at the top, which will not be visible, and then attached directly to the structure with stainless steel anchors and grommets every 3-4′ down both sides and across the bottom.

2. Are there particular ‘images’ you are looking for on the 3 open image pages?

These pages have purposefully been left open to the entrants discretion, but we highly advise showing us what your image will look like on the actual structure, and at the proportions of the 20′x80′ finished piece. Please do not send us a picture of a square painting with no connection to the grain elevator or the size and shape of the banners.  This is a site specific installation and since the topic is ultimately about context and the greater contemporary regional landscape, specifically the importance of this structure within that, please consider this in your submission.

3. Are you looking for agricultural images only?

No.  Again, the focus of this competition is about much more than agriculture.

4. Is there a way to find out how much grain was stored in these structures throughout their life as such?

We do not have that information, but you are welcome to do research about this from the grain company that owned the elevator, Foxley and Sons – later acquired by Scoular.

5. What is the composition of the final printed banners?

The final banners will be a product called Mesh Summit (Mesh 100) meaning that it is as mesh with 100 squares/inch.  It is polyester that is coated on both sides with PVC, although we are hoping to find a different coating material and are exploring this with the print company.

The Call for Submissions has been out for 5 days and questions are rolling in from all over the world. It seems Europe, South America and the West Coast are hitting the ground running from the outset. For the benefit of everyone currently working on a submission, thinking about their submission, or thinking about getting started on a submission, here are the most frequently asked questions during Week 1:

1. Can non-U.S. citizens submit an entry?
Of course! This is a competition open to anyone with an idea. We have distributed the call nationwide (in the U.S.) but certainly are not discriminating where entries originate. The more ideas from more places and points of view the better.

2. How many silos am I designing?
Each submission is for 1 silo (20′x80′ panel), but you can submit as many separate ideas/concepts as you would like.

3. For the three pages of images in the submission packet, is that 3 images of 1 design per entry, or can an entrant send in 3 separate designs.
All three image pages must relate to the single idea for a single panel as described in the explanation paragraph on page two of all submissions. The three image pages are included and left open to give each entrant options in best representing the image/idea.

4. I would like to submit three separate proposals. Should I include all three within one submission packet/PDF, or generate a separate submission packet/PDF for each concept?
You can submit as many concepts as you would like, but each one needs to be represented on its own and submitted separately from the others and as a complete packet/PDF. The jurors will view each entry individually and anonymously and in succession with the explanation paragraph that precedes the images.

5. Should I plan to submit my final image as part of the 3 images requested in the call for submissions, or will there be time to create the work to scale if my proposal is accepted for reproduction?
There will be a 3-4 week period between the selection process and requiring a full DPI image for print from the selected submissions. We will work with the print company to achieve the best possible output on each designed image to convey its content and purpose. That being said, this phase of the process we are looking for concise, creative, and meaningful conceptual entries.

6. Will the elevator be lit at night?
Yes, the silos and the images will be lit by wall mounted fixtures at the base of the structure. We haven’t yet settled on a specific lighting technology, which will determine how many lights, but we will work to ensure the best display.

7. What is the volume of a silo?
Each silo, at its floorplate, is about 500 sq. ft. However, the heights of the individual silos vary – from 90-110 ft. From these numbers you can calculate the storage capacity.

8. What is diameter of a silo?
25 ft.

9. What crops was the elevator used to hold?
Corn and soybeans

10. Are there any high resolution images of the site, sections/elevations/CAD files available?
Since this is a competition for only a temporary skin of an individual silo, with set dimension, there are no additional images being provided. If there are specific dimensions or volumes you need to direct your concept, we are happy to provide those upon your request.

We are excited to announce that the full slate of jurors has been selected for Stored Potential.  The esteemed group of professionals will come together on May 22 at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts to review all submissions and select those to be printed and installed on the grain elevator:

Jamie Hand
Van Alen Institute

Jeff Day
MIN | DAY Architects

JD Hutton
Nebraska Arts Council

Mason White
InfraNet Lab, Lateral Office, Bracket Magazine