Bureau of Manufactured History

A collaboration between James A. Reeves and Oliver Blank that explored the personalities of cities. Reeves spent six weeks in Indianapolis writing stories based on urban legends, historical rumors, and chatter recorded on the Bureau’s open telephone line. Blank transformed elements of these stories into a 45-minute composition and a performance-based installation using a desk, audio speaker, the soul of Indianapolis, and a chair. The Former Desk of the First Office of the Bureau of Manufactured History was unveiled at a public ceremony on the third of May and continues to appear in unexpected locations throughout Indianapolis. Reeves’s stories were collected in a book called The Manufactured History of Indianapolis.