CONCRETE/COMPLEX

In collaboration with Liz Donadio

Dismantled in late 2016, McKeldin Fountain was part of Baltimore's urban landscape for over three decades. An unembellished Brutalist structure, it was poetically designed to evoke natural rock formations of the Susquehanna River, fusing natural ecology and modern design into the heart of downtown. A designated free-speech zone, McKeldin was home to Occupy Baltimore in 2011 and Black Lives Matter protests in 2015.

As a collaborative audio-visual project, Collis and Donadio documented the fountain's last days to conjure a meditation on the essence of this urban landmark. Using projection-mapping software, video shot on site traverses large sculptural forms that reference shapes of the fountain itself, culminating in a sensory memorial experience.

Installation view, 5-channel digital video projection, quadraphonic sound. Current Space, Baltimore, 2017