Adam Silverman

In his Common Ground project, Adam Silverman considers current political and societal divisiveness in the United States, as well as its history of settlement by European colonists who arbitrarily split unceded Native American land into states. 

Silverman collected and combined equal amounts of clay, water, and wood ash from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five inhabited US territories—American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Freed of borders visible only on maps, this new material was used to make 56 plates, bowls, cups, and ceremonial pots. These vessels are used to serve various groups of 56 people across the US. Each meal offers people currently inhabiting this land the opportunity to find common ground together.