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In 1975 Howard began photographing and documenting cracks in the sidewalks of New York City. Returning home from Chicago, he was struck by the extraordinary formations that were created by the cracking sidewalks. He saw the cracks as sculptural reliefs and decided to sign them with a stamp bearing his initials and address, bringing attention to them as found objects of art.
Eventually he created documents describing the location of the cracks and their unique qualities. He included a typed description as well as a photograph and a pencil drawing. These documents date between 1975-76.
In 1976, Howard had an exhibition at the O.K.Harris gallery in New York City entitled Cracks and Imperfections Due to Stress. He included a map of the city with red pins indicating the locations of cracks that he had signed. The documents describing the cracks lined the walls. Pages from his notebook which described the cracks surrounded the map. A file box containing files on each crack was also present. An article about the O.K.Harris gallery including a description of the crack exhibition appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal on Friday August 18, 1978.
Howard has also documented cracks for collectors in their own homes.
