FACTORIA was a temporary site-specific work composed of recycled water bottles and solar powered LED's that responded to the hidden and forgotten histories of an early 1900's utopian industrial metropolis. Robert E. Glass, a Chicago entrepreneur, proposed to build Factoria on a 470 acre site in an area of Saskatoon now called Silverwood Heights. An economic slowdown thwarted his grand scheme, however remnants of several buildings, including a bottling plant, may still be found at the site. The creation of an ephemeral monument was based, in part, on the idea of ‘accidental monuments’ similar to the famous Hollywood sign, which was originally constructed as a temporary commercial billboard to promote another planned neighbourhood, 'hollywoodland'.

FACTORIA is part of Formerly Exit Five: Portable Monuments to Recent History, College Art Galleries at the University of Saskatoon - curated by Shauna McCabe.

The Factoria installation was facilitated by the College Art Galleries and the Meewasin Valley Authority. Special thanks to Jason Wall, MVA Senior Interpreter. Support for this project was also generously donated by Saskatoon Curbside Recycling and Cosmopolitan Industries.