10,001 examines the landscapes within and around the granite perimeter wall of the Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud through the study of objects, historical research, site visits, and the production of photographs. The project exists as a print portfolio, future installations, and an archived project website.
10,001 (Book Cart), 2021-2024, varnished oak, caster wheels, incarcerated labor, archival pigment prints mounted on gator foam. 44 × 23 × 36 in. (111.76 × 58.42 × 91.44 cm)
The most current iteration of 10,001 takes the form of 25 mounted photographs displayed on an oak book cart. Central to the project is a water-filled, abandoned granite quarry within the walls of the St Cloud prison and the knowledge that the granite to build the perimeter wall was quarried on-site by prisoners over a century ago. The book cart was crafted by incarcerated labor at MCF-Faribault and purchased through MINNCOR Industries. My deepest gratitude belongs to those laborers unknown to me.
10,001 (Book Cart) is currently on view in the exhibition A Nation Takes Place at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum through March 2. 2025.
Video walk through of the project website: www.10001.work. The website was active from March 2021-October 2022.
Peter Happel Christian is a fiscal year 2020 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.