Not For Sale
"Not For Sale" is part of a series of regionally specific installations that use signage resembling real estate signs. These signs are designed to appear as if the land they occupy is for sale.
However, when someone calls the number on the sign (720.281.9199), they won’t hear a sales pitch. Instead, they’ll hear a poem, quote, or excerpt from a story, book, or personal writing. These recordings reflect on a broad range of themes including environmental impacts, urbanization, land-use, land ownership, overdevelopment, colonization, and our broader human relationship with the land.
At the end of the voice message, callers are invited to leave a message of their own. These responses are archived as both audio recordings and written transcriptions.
"Not For Sale" invites critical reflection on issues specific to the local community and region, while emphasizing the vital role community members play in our shared responsibility as stewards of the land.
History
Gold King refers to the Gold King Mine wastewater spill from 2015 which caused the toxic release of wastewater into the Animas River watershed in. The event was a devastating environmental disaster that highlighted the need for greater accountability and responsibility in resource management. The spill not only polluted the water but also affected the livelihoods of the people who rely on it, such as farmers, ranchers, and indigenous communities. The incident underscored the urgent need for effective environmental regulations, which prioritize the protection of natural resources and public health over the interests of corporations and private property owners.
Animas River, Colorado, 2015
Location 1: 5 Points, Denver Colorado
Audio Activated: January 2023:
Cycling”, written and read by Deborah H. Sussman. Deborah H. Sussman is a writer and editor based in Tempe, Arizona.
Location 2: Villa Park, Denver Colorado
Audio Activated: February, 2023:
Michael Lundgren is and Artist whose work draws on a deep current in photographic tradition that takes the natural world as the seat of transcendence. He has two books published with @radius.books, is a Guggenheim Fellow and he’s based in the Western United States.
Location 3: Villa Park, Denver Colorado
Audio Activated: March, 2023:
Raven Payment (Ojibwe/Kanien’kehá:ka) is a storyteller at heart. A civil construction professional by trade, she is a passionate advocate for Native rights, a multimedia artist, Co-Chair of the Denver American Indian Commission, and member of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Task Force of Colorado.
Location: The Yard, Colorado Springs, Colorado 2022
The Yard is a site for public art located, quite literally, in a front yard in Colorado Springs. This is a project space run by artists, Ben Kinsley and Jessica Langley. Coordinates: 38.847596,-104.799216