Visual Culture: Artist Theaster Gates Mines The Possibility In Abandoned Property

Chicago artist Theaster Gates is on a mission to engage and foster community as he rebuilds and revitalizes blighted structures in his hometown and elsewhere across the Midwest. Gates - an installation and social practice artist who has exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago - made his latest appearance on The Colbert Report, where he fielded questions about his work that, as one might expect, were as amusing as they were informative. The discussion focused less on Gates work as an academic at the University of Chicago and more on Colbert's curiosities and concerns about his projects; Stephen Colbert seemed particularly eager to know whether Gates was revamping abandoned homes in order to build a compound for his cult. Colbert also questioned Gates about the possibility of expanding his project or introducing something like it to other cities in the country affected by blight as dissipating industry and economic deficits continue to gut communities across the states. Check the footage below to watch Theaster Gates' full interview on The Colbert Report. Scroll through the gallery above to view some of Gates' works from the Dorchester Projects, Listening House Chicago, Listening Room Seattle, 12 Ballads For Huguenot House, The Glass Lantern Slide Archive Relocation, My Labor Is MY Protest and more. Learn more about Theaster Gates, his projects and exhibitions at theastergates.com.