Ted Purves – “Sillean Archipelago”

Sillean Archipelago as imagined by Ted Purves, One of fifteen islands fabricated by Greg Sholette based on ideas proposed by invited collaborators, Mixed media (paper, sand, plastic, wire, resin), 2012

Hi Greg,

It came to me last night that the Panorama of New York City is missing something that acts as a reverse- Ellis Island- An island where people go to when they wish to leave for a new life, rather than the island that they disembark upon to begin a new life. I imagine that such an island would serve as a gateway to many alternative new lives (new countries, new political systems, new paradigms, etc…), so perhaps it is something more like an archipelago… In true allegorical fashion- we could call this the Sille Island, or if there is more than one- the Sillean Archipelago.

- Ted Purves

Ted Purves is an artist, writer, and Chair of the MFA Social Practice Art program at the California
College of Art in San Francisco.

Back to Greg Sholette: Fifteen Islands for Robert Moses