Mike Kelley’s Famous Mobile Home Sculpture Tours Detroit

Despite his strong associations to the Los Angeles art scene, Mike Kelley was born in Wayne, Michigan, and raised in the Detroit suburb of Westland. The prefab ranch-style house in which Kelley grew up inspired Mobile Homestead (2010) – a full-scale replica of his childhood abode – which has been exhibited on the grounds of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit for the past eight years.

As Kelley’s last significant artwork before his death in 2012, Mobile Homestead is a poetic tribute to Detroit and a timeless reaction to the city’s cultural beat. With its detachable façade and inherent mobility, the installation is both an exhibition space and community center that Kelley designed in such a way as to keep it relevant.

In August 2018, Mobile Homestead will embark on a tour of Detroit, stopping at neighborhoods across the metropolitan area and transforming into a site for performances, cultural events and public services. The Hinterlands, a Detroit-based company that specializes in curating culturally minded performance pieces and public events, will host a series of performative dinners within the mobile home at points of interest along the way.

Titled µTopian Dinner, these performances “are designed to shift our way of thinking around the typical American meal – what we eat, how we eat it, who we eat it with – in order to create new relationships, conversations and experiences for participants,” according to the release. “Incorporating explosive physical performance, live music, choreography, handheld video projection, conversation, smartphones and really good food eaten in surprising ways, the dinners will guide participants through an investigation of national and personal cultural identity and the notion of ‘breaking bread’ with those across a variety of divides.”

µTopian Dinner performances are inclusive for guests of any age, interest and background. Dinners are free on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Two performances will take place on Saturday, August 4 2018 at the Sidewalk Festival for the Arts and additional performances will take place at the Dixieland Flea Market on Saturday, August 11 and Sunday, August 12 2018.