Visual residue from BOK Technical School's past

Vacant America is the vision of Klip Collective artists Ricardo Rivera and Josh James to create a series of visual installations about our changing built environment. Through their residency at Bok, they are exploring interpretive storytelling through immersive mediums, such as installation art and virtual reality. With its first installment in the former Girls’ Gymnasium, the duo seeks to capture the history and tangible memories contained in the former school.

"At Bok, we want to peel back the layers of history and tangible memories contained inside this former school. We sourced as much as we could from the building, such as old yearbooks, desks, chairs, transparencies, vinyl records, and other teaching materials. We poured over interviews from alumni and former staff.

What we present is a meditative state of audio and visual chaos. The thousands of names of people that came through this school, the geometry slides that were projected on classroom walls, and the sheet music of the school song that once echoed in the halls."