M_A Storefront hosts Why Not Things?, a new installation by Jesse Hammer that presents a visual inventory of the testimonials, material objects, and numbers that have emerged around the mutual aid initiative Heat Aid. A collection of things and graphics lend themselves to a stylized portrayal of energy, water, and talismans of refuge. The project simultaneously offers itself as a storage space for donated water units, and presents a visual accounting of the unfolding crisis of shade and water inequity. Somewhere between an Enzo Mari puzzle, a fashion storefront display, and an IRL infographic, the installation amplifies the literal container of the Storefront to extend itself to something that is thick with an attitude about the issues at play. Re-imaging the crisis through the ethos of mutual aid, Hammer’s project evokes how the sharing of things, alongside language and information, become tokens of love for a community in need.

Exhibition Images

About Jesse Hammer

Jesse Hammer is an Architect and Designer whose work explores colorful graphic forms, humor, and conceptual commentary with a nod to historic and cultural references. Having worked in both the abstract and practical realms of architecture, their unique experience is grounded in intellect and playfulness. They run a studio practice based in Los Angeles and hold a Masters of Architecture from UCLA.

Heat Aid was organized with M_A Program Board members Aubrey Bauer, Mateus Comparato, Gary Riichirō Fox, Jia Yi Gu, Jesse Hammer, Alyssa Lopez, Kendall Mann, Dana McKinney, and Sage Roebuck