We Outchea: Hip-Hop Fabrications and Public Space, Collage Study 2: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A print by Sekou Cooke as part of the collage studies from “We Outchea: Hip-Hop Fabrications and Public Space.” The print takes a black-and-white photograph of public housing complex Pioneer Homes separated by the Interstate 81 in Syracuse, New York. The interstate stretches across the photograph and is highlighted in orange. In the far background, in the upper left quadrant, are the AXA Towers (the Equitable Towers since 2020). In the bottom left corner, below the highlighted highway, white text reads [“THE REMOVAL OF THE HIGHWAY HAS THE / POTENTIAL TO ESSTENTIALLY REPEAT THE / SAME OUTCOMES THAT THE CONSTRUCTION / OF THE HIGHWAYS HAD.”]. Screen printed in the bottom right corner over the print is an outline of building plans for the housing complex Judge Langston C. McKinney Manor and the top street names in a dark color ink. The artist signed the print in the front, lower center in graphite: [S Cooke / 2020 / AP].

When installed, the collage studies comprise a 3x3 grid of nine different illustrations, with this illustration placed in the top middle.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2020
• Created by: Sekou Cooke, Jamaican American
• Subject of: Pioneer Homes, American, founded 1941
• Subject of: Judge Langston C. McKinney Manor, American, founded 1990
• Type: screen prints
• Type: prints
• Medium: print: ink on paper
• Medium: frame: wood (maple and American tulipwood), glass, metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (framed): 12 7/8 × 12 7/8 × 1 1/2 in. (32.7 × 32.7 × 3.8 cm)
• Place depicted: Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Architecture
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Housing
• Topic: Urban planning
• Object number: 2023.92.1.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Sekou Cooke Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.