A series of four installation performances in Estonia and Chicago in 2003-2004

Unmaking the World: Measuring our chances is a multi-media installation of 300 globes and two 6-foot weather balloons, inflated and deflated, a large de-constructed map of the world, a video of circus imagery, insects, bubbling mud, and geo-political representations. It reflects an interest in mapping, representation and the political and environmental/ecological events that are rocking civilization. The mixed media installation of urethane foam, latex weather balloons, cardboard, steel bolts, 12-minute video and projection equipment, was presented on two sites at the Athenaeum Theater in Chicago: downstairs stairwell, 8×15 feet and upstairs balcony foyer, 18×40 feet at the Performing Arts Chicago, PAC/edge Festival in 2004, a five-week festival of installation and performance. Deconstructed map sculpture by Donald Lambert. Performance responses were staged with a writer and playwright, Beau O’Reilly, an ecologist, Liam Heneghan, circus performer, Douglas Grew and Steven Thompson, and performance artist, Julie Laffin. The work was originally developed in Estonia where Wilber has presented performances and installations since 2000. In the Mohni Island Festival of Installation, Video and Performance, Wilber invited artist Frances Whitehead to collaborate on what became three inter-related artistic projects under the umbrella rubric,Unmaking the World. These were (1) Unmaking the World: Measuring our chances, a multi-media installation in the museum; (2) Unmaking the World: All four corners of the world have beauty1, a site-specific installation on Mohni Island, off the coast of Estonia, in an abandoned root cellar and (3) Unmaking the World: Tracing Mohni Island (N 590-E0250), a performance that traversed the circumference of the island, mapping its periphery with a GPS system, creating an accurate map and video document of 480+ waypoints. For the Mohni Island piece, Whitehead constructed a de-constructed flat map of the world out of carpet batting for the first installation; Donald Lambert replaced Whitehead’s map with geodesic dome constructions in cardboard and steel bolts for the PAC/edge installation. The video by Wilber used as a projection on the 6-foot weather balloon also exists as a stand-alone artwork.

Photos © Dan Rest