The South Side Atlas was a project from 1997 that examined the question of how women and girls perceive and navigate urban space. Taking as their immediate project the cognitive mapping of the South Side of Pittsburgh, next question explored the physical, cultural and emotional geography of the South Side, mapping it with other women and girls in a series of investigations. Documentation from the project was exhibited in SPACE 101 of the Brew House, an artist’s cooperative on the South Side of Pittsburgh.Read more
At the Brew House
SPACE 101 at the Brew House was the central site for the project. There we hosted workshops, gatherings, a hula hoop contest and the culminating installation. next question also designed and printed Poetry Space, a chapbook of poetry by women poets of Pittsburgh.
Carson Street Detectives
next question walked the length of Carson Street, the main street in South Side, with a video camera hidden in a purse.
South Side Investigations
Weekly we met with young photographers who attended the after school art program at the Manchester Craftsman's Guild. They explored the South Side with their cameras capturing the details of the neighborhood and and gathered objects from the streets which they labeled and displayed in the show.
Audio Detour
Audio Detour was a compilation of interviews with women and girls who lived in or visited the South Side as they discussed the politics of urban space. Gallery visitors could listen by putting their heads under a hair dryer or using portable audio players while they viewed the installation.
Personal Landmarks
next question placed small markers throughout South Side to commemorate the Personal Landmarks the women we interviewed had shared with us.
Hula Hoop Motion Study
Hula Hoop Motion Study was a video of women and girls using the hula hoop, which became a metaphor for women’s problematic relationship to urban space.
