Vessels and Fields

Vessels and Fields is a collection of Wellington Reiter's experimental projects, presented through a series of powerful drawings that owe as much of a debt to Lebbeus Woods for their frenetic and intense energy as they do to Piranesi for their ability to use simple pen-and-ink linework to create unusually complex spaces. These fantastical projects-a mix of architecture, museum installations, and public art-often involve the reuse of obsolete military installations (abandoned missile silos, historic battlefields, and decommissioned aircraft carriers), which adds to the provocative nature of the work. Just a few of the more than 20 projects included in this collection are the excavation of a defunct missile silo to allow for public viewing; two giant cones serving as timepieces, one measuring the growth of a tree and the other the erosion of a boulder; and a bridge between two islands on either side of the International Date Line that eventually becomes a meeting point between two distinct political ideologies. An introduction by Patricia Phillips situates the work within an artistic as well as an architectural context.