As American infrastructure slowly disintegrates, investigating the life cycles of the built environment is tantamount. Two shows in Chicago—“Midnight”at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago and “Conduit” at LVL3—pay close attention to this ongoing cycle: the churning, crumbling, and transformation of the  urban landscape. Through their devoted deliberation, artists in these exhibitions conjure new visions of the tired and banal sights of urbanity: a missing pavestone turned altar, or a ripped tarp turned message from God. Amidst the dread of a changing relationship to urbanism and a rotting built environment, they uncover strange undercurrents of magic, alienation, and ritual.