Tesselescence (The Franklin Outdoor)

Tesselescence combines tessellation—a two-dimensional pattern with a three-dimensional effect—and obsolescence, whether unintentional or planned.

For Tesselescence (The Franklin Outdoor), Haftner used mis-tinted latex paint from a local hardware store to apply a “tumbling blocks” pattern to the exterior walls of The Franklin Outdoor, an open-air gallery in Chicago’s Garfield Park founded by artist Edra Soto and musician Dan Sullivan. Intersecting with the gallery’s distinctive architecture, the pattern creates a visual oscillation between decorative and structural geometry. Part of the group exhibition Still Life (2021), the installation framed and connected artworks displayed inside and outside the gallery.

the franklin

Marzena Abrahamik

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Regina Agu

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Alberto Aguilar

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Kyle Bellucci Johanson

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Lionel Cruet

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Keeley Haftner

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Devin T Mays

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Elsa Muñoz

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Caroline Robe

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Kellie Romany

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Onajide Shabaka

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Marcela Torres

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Rodrigo Valenzuela

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Norma Vila Rivero

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Amy Vogel

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Marzena Abrahamik 〰️ Regina Agu 〰️ Alberto Aguilar 〰️ Kyle Bellucci Johanson 〰️ Lionel Cruet 〰️ Keeley Haftner 〰️ Devin T Mays 〰️ Elsa Muñoz 〰️ Caroline Robe 〰️ Kellie Romany 〰️ Onajide Shabaka 〰️ Marcela Torres 〰️ Rodrigo Valenzuela 〰️ Norma Vila Rivero 〰️ Amy Vogel 〰️

Tesselescence (The Franklin Outdoor) (Copy)

At the evening of the opening, “Tesselescence (The Franklin Outdoor)” became a stage for live music performed by Dan Sullivan and his Folk Rock band, Nad Navillus. The gallery is open to the public year round, regardless of the weather, by appointme

Created during the COVID-19 pandemic, the work also provided a backdrop for outdoor musical performances, bringing together art, architecture, and gathering at a time when shared cultural spaces had taken on renewed significance.