10,001 examines the landscapes within and around the granite perimeter wall of the Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud through the study of objects, historical research, site visits, and the production of photographs. The project exists as a print portfolio, future installations, and an archived project website.
10,001 (Book Cart), 2021-2024, varnished oak, caster wheels, incarcerated labor, archival pigment prints mounted on gator foam. 44 × 23 × 36 in. (111.76 × 58.42 × 91.44 cm)
The most current iteration of 10,001 takes the form of 25 mounted photographs displayed on an oak book cart. Central to the project is a water-filled, abandoned granite quarry within the walls of the St Cloud prison and the knowledge that the granite to build the perimeter wall was quarried on-site by prisoners over a century ago. The book cart was crafted by incarcerated labor at MCF-Faribault and purchased through MINNCOR Industries. My deepest gratitude belongs to those laborers unknown to me.
10,001 (Book Cart) was on view in the exhibition A Nation Takes Place at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum from August 2024 until March 2025. The exhibition catalogue is available through the University of Minnesota Press.
Video walk through of the project website: www.10001.work. The website was active from March 2021-October 2022.
Peter Happel Christian is a fiscal year 2020 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.