location: Future Tenant Gallery, Pittsburgh
date: 2002

In 1978, U.S. production of plastic exceeded that of steel for the first time. Pittsburgh has seen tremendous changes in employment and city structure since the collapse of the steel industry. I was curious to know how residents of a city that has always defined itself by the production of lasting materials have adapted to less certain and more malleable industries.

Trade Talks was developed for a temporary gallery located in an empty downtown building. For the duration of the show, I invited people to lunch. The only cost was to sit down with me and the other audience participants to enjoy a meal and share conversation about working in Pittsburgh. Participants included financial brokers, office temp workers, a homeless former drywall hanger, and the vice president of an investment banking firm.

During the meal, conversations were played live through a speaker on the street outside. After each lunch, I wrote as much as I could remember of the conversations on dinner napkins, which were used during the closing reception.