For his IN/OUT project at Art in General, Chris Moukarbel covers the gallery floor using unfired mud bricks. The bricks, hand made by the artist in various locations, will continue to be produced throughout the exhibition in the Art in General gallery space. The installation will result in grooved pathways worn into the floor as visitors move throughout the gallery space for the three-month duration of the show. Using an archaic method of construction, Moukarbel explore ideas of permanence and entropy. IN/OUT also includes a series of paired photographs taken in two charged locations; the recently vacated New York Times office building in midtown Manhattan, and a 2008 demonstration against the Iraq War in Washington DC.

IN/OUT is part of an ongoing investigation of novelty, continuity, intervention, and their relationship to cultural and artistic change. In this Moukarbel continues his exploration of political and artistic trends in the sense of what has been called “folk activism.” Moukarbel uses notions of “in” and “out” to explore the transitional moment in which an idea can be supplanted by another. This multi-faceted project has investigated forms of trending such as fashion industry “In/Out” lists, quick turnaround bootlegs, and public roadside memorials. His work explores the idea of the “tipping point”: the moment when a cultural trend can be said to have lasting political effects, or when political events are converted into cultural symbols.