Latham ZearfossThird Space

In Third Space, artist Latham Zearfoss brings a suite of poetic interventions to the garden of The Arts Club of Chicago. United by a primary color scheme of red, yellow, and blue, these sculptural and auditory works share the format of two-sidedness, as in a fence or an angle. The gestures try to make us aware of the oppositionality of “us and them” by changing our attention. We are interrupted as we walk past or around the garden by unexpected appearances—a tree trunk turned sculptural, a change in color for a familiar structure, hand-crafted ceramic decor that might be accidental, or the sound of a tennis match with no clear source. Viewers are subtly invited to cross “soft borders” or boundaries and thereby make an active choice to align themselves in new ways.

Zearfoss consciously works with eco-neutral, organic, and otherwise climate-conscious materials to minimize their impact and waste. In an increasingly divided culture, Zearfoss seeks to engage the possibility that we could choose not to take sides, but instead would create a “third space” where binaries are not the norm.

Latham Zearfoss works in Chicago, where they produce time-based images, objects and experiences about selfhood and otherness. Outside of the studio, they contribute to collective motions toward joy and reflection through social projects such as a queer dance party (Chances Dances), a critical space for white allyship (Make Yourself Useful), and an itinerant conference on socially-engaged art (Open Engagement). Latham graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA in 2008 and the University of Illinois at Chicago with an MFA in 2011. They have exhibited their work, screened their videos, and DJed internationally and all over the U.S.