Remnants in the blue clay

“Heavy construction equipment yesterday unearthed the remnants in the blue clay which was once the bed of a stream, or of the stream’s flood plain.” Oakland Tribune, August 15, 1964.

Construction of multi-purpose sports complexes played a key role in 1950s and ‘60s urban development in the U.S., as municipal governments and city officials associated the presence of a major league sports complex with major league status for the metropolitan area. A confluence of factors (including a population dip in late 50s Oakland resulting from white flight, the development of the Bay area highway and transit system, and Oakland’s long-time competition with and overshadowing by San Francisco) led to a crisis of development and identity, out of which two major projects emerged. The Port of Oakland’s quick rise to global prominence following the advent of container shipping in the late 60s, and the construction of the Oakland Coliseum (1964-66) offered a sense of optimism and promise for Oakland’s future. With its availability of land compared to San Francisco, developers saw Oakland as well-positioned to accommodate these projects. 

The construction of the Oakland Coliseum resulted in the culverting of much of the creek system surrounding Mills College, including Lion, Seminary, and Chimes creeks. As the city of Oakland negotiates the approval of the Howard Terminal Project, these creeks and culverts endure as a record of the complex negotiations out of which identity and sense of place arise. By dislocating recordings from the Port of Oakland and Jack London Square and live mixing them in the culvert, I engage with and reflect on these linkages, and explore and temporally- and spatially-expansive conceptions of place.

12/21 @ Mills College