Chakaia Booker's 'Brick House' hits the 606

 

I took a peek at Chicago's 606 on yesterday and wound up meeting artist Chakaia Booker. She was installing her sculpture, Brick House, on the trail at Damen Avenue.

It's the first major piece of artwork to grace the 606, which opened last June. Even in its unfinished state--although it'll be completed in a couple of days--the 26-foot long serpentine work is a powerful, linear piece that compliments the active North Side trail.

Booker's work resembles an uncoiling serpent. It's composed of a stainless steel frame clad in repurposed tire rubber. The New Jersey-born artist has been making sculptures from rubber since 1990. Her work examines industrialization, economic  inequity, globalization and other issues.

By the way, this was my first time walking the 606 since the elevated path opened in June. The trail is a sweet piece of repurposed infrastructure (which makes a sculpture of repurposed tire rubber a pretty clever riff); what had been an industrial rail line atop a concrete embankment is a multi-use linear park with landscaping, texture--and art.