Sewer Vents
Necessary for release of sewer gasses from sewage waste and an aid to aerobic sewage digestion, these pipes are part of larger networks of common household plumbing.
Dating back to the early 20th century, these iron vent covers have become the signatures of nameless architects, plumbers and laborers who built the homes of San Francisco. Beginning as a convenient advertisement, these vents have become historically significant cultural artifacts.
My interest in these iron relics concerns a intersection of themes. What begins with an urban necessity has, with the passage of time, become artifact. In an age today where nothing is made without the aid of machines, these vents were the early products of mechanized labor (even the houses connected to the vents were early pre-fabricated tract homes). Today, the inscribed vents are looked upon as personable quirks from a rapidly evolving industrial society. Our contemporary worker has become nameless and invisible. In another hundred years, what cultural markers will survive from the current age of Information? Who will remember the builders then?
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