Dan Peterman: Sulfur Cycle 2.0

In Sulfur Cycle 2.0, Dan Peterman (American, b. 1960) excavates the walls of an MCA gallery to reveal that the museum itself is built in part with materials produced from fossil fuels. Through this investigation, Peterman asks the viewer to think more deeply about the systems that fuel their lives: whether for their car, their home, their workplace, or their city.

In 1994, the MCA hosted Options 48: Dan Peterman, featuring a multimedia artwork titled Sulfur Cycle. The artwork was composed of six stacks of synthetic gypsum drywall, which collectively contained one ton of sulfur captured from coal-burning power plant emissions—thereby diverting this airborne pollution from entering the atmosphere. After the exhibition, Peterman intended for the drywall to be used in the construction of the building that currently hosts the museum, at 220 E Chicago Ave.

Peterman revisits this request in Dan Peterman: Sulfur Cycle 2.0 by removing pieces of the gallery walls in search of the original drywall. Using the museum building itself, Peterman demonstrates how capitalism reorganizes nature—and how fossil fuels are so ingrained in our production and consumption cycles, they disappear into the environment we occupy.

Dan Peterman: Sulfur Cycle 2.0 is organized by Jack Schneider, Curatorial Assistant, and is presented in the Turner Gallery on the museum’s fourth floor.