Kemper Art Museum explores power, influence and vulnerability of motorized travel
December 21, 2020 SHARE
Works by Ed Ruscha, on view as part of “The Autonomous Future of Mobility.” The Teaching Gallery exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum is curated by assistant professor Constance Vale, in conjunction with her fall 2020 studio of the same title. (Photo: Constance Vale)
A van gleams darkly in the seedy neon of 1970s Times Square. Taxis queue for gas amidst a global oil crisis. In Los Angeles, sprawling development commands acres of flat-lot parking a feedback loop of urban emptiness.
In “The Autonomous Future of Mobility,” Constance Vale, assistant professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, explores how motorized travel shapes American cities, energy consumption and popular notions of freedom and independence.