‘Aerial Production’, by DeOld Andersen Architecture, a partnership between Nebraska natives Emily Andersen and Geoff DeOld, depicts the transformation of the Midwest landscape at the city edge from farmstead to suburban and exurban development. Focusing on a swath of land at the edge of Omaha two miles long by a half mile wide, three different stages of land use are captured simultaneously; productive farmland, former farmland in the process of being re-formed into suburban tract development, and a completed and occupied residential development. This abstracted representation of a literal condition unifies the fits and starts by which land development occurs through a lens of production – land that once produced agricultural crops now produces homes and the infrastructures that support them.
This work is part of Emerging Terrain's Stored Potential project, which began as a desire to re-purpose the grain elevator at 33rd and Vinton Streets. Emerging Terrain partnered with the elevator owners, city agencies, neighborhood associations and various community organizations to make the project happen. They solicited artists to submit designs addressing the themes of land use, food, and agriculture, a selection of which were printed on polyester mesh banners and installed on the exterior of the elevator silos. Up-lit at night, the banners were viewable to drivers passing on I-80, transforming the derelict structure into a super-size, drive-by art gallery. The project culminated with an outdoor dinner party for 500 people, all of whom were seated at an 800-foot-long table near the base of the installation.
