John Salvest, professor of art at Arkansas State University and a master of conceptual art, will erect a temporary public art piece, “IOU/USA,” in Kansas City’s Penn Valley/Memorial Hill Park. The work will consist of 105 steel shipping containers in various colors, stacked 15 across and seven high. The letters I O U will be spelled out by the containers on one side and U S A on the other. Salvest on the exhibit, which will be installed Sept. 2 and run through Oct. 16:
“The placement of the project near a regional branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, one of
the main components of national economic policy, comes at a time when concern about the
United States’ ballooning federal budget and foreign trade deficits is a major part of the
national conversation. Its location between the Fed and the Pioneer Mother Memorial is also
fitting in that, whereas the permanent public monument rightfully celebrates America’s and
Kansas City’s triumphant past, the temporary public sculpture may generate meaningful
discussion about where we, as a nation, are heading.”
The piece is paired with a separate work, “New Cornucopia,” a single shipping container with its contents spilling out into a gallery at Grand Arts, a modern day reference to global production of plenitude.
Update: Read more about Salvest here.
