Ensemblage
Silent Negotiations (I Said _____ I Meant _____) at MAAF 2010
Saturday night screening at Nothin’ Less
You have to have a little humor to appreciate this. My first (and probably, hopefully, the last) work to be screened in the lady’s room.
Opening night, I went to check on my video but the door (to the restroom) was locked. Then a woman came out a few minutes later smiling and said, “Thank you for the message.” Your welcome.
Today: I don’t want to think
My ID says: I want to sleep, I want a manicure, I want my clothes to pick out itself, I want a massage, I want a meal sitting at a table, I want to talk about something other than slots or paint or eye level or compression rates, or better yet not talk at all, I want a workout that requires punching & kicking, I want to laugh really hard (and not out of hysterics), I want extended bear hugs, I want to buy a pair of really expensive shoes, I want pleasure.
Friday evening, participating artists each had a 6-foot wide table to utilize. The purpose is to share and promote your work for free without sales. I was originally planning on just having multiple boxes, but I was in an ‘excessive’ mood from being completely over stimulated and overwhelmed after three days of conversation & theory. So the result? An experiment in popularity. Here are some photos from the two hour event.
2 new submission boxes! Yes, they’re still all black but I lined the insides with bright red, which make me happy when I open them (yeah, yeah, I geek out over boxes).
Back to the original open-list format. This time much longer. Even if people didn’t participate, they at least stopped by to read the list or pick up some buttons and mini-cards. The one on display is I SAID | BUT I WAS THINKING, but sheets with the other prompts, I PRETEND and DEAR YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, were laid out as well. I usually go the super minimal route for my displays, but I’ll just say it, my brain felt like it was spilling over at this point from all the multi-tasking that the conference blog entailed, so I literally laid out everything I had. I’m kind of glad I did.
I’ve been carrying around my laptop & camera all day so I can blog on the go, but the web survey was a last minute addition when I discovered I could pick up free Wi-fi, score!
And this evening’s award for people’s choice of collection mode goes to…..
The open-list!
I can’t help but analyze the results, and it’s quite simple. While the list was sweet, clever and funny, the web-survey results submitted during those two hours were specific narratives. A handful of people submitted to the black box, and those were more like a spasm of frustration released with blue sharpies. I don’t know how many of the submissions I collected during this event will actually be used in my video installation, but I’m glad I got a little time to spread the word. I think the best part was seeing how people were amused with the open content of both the list and the mini-cards. The concept of free art exchange fit perfectly into this experiment. Now I have to catch up on writing my last batch of posts for CAA.
Oh, and one more thing: the installation walls will no longer be gray. They will be silver. Fancy. How is this related? I had this realization during the conference when I was event hopping for a photo blog.
"While In Class" at Woman Made Gallery exhibited January 22 - February 25, 2010
“While in Class…” juried by Lily Mayfield, features work by 35 emerging women artists. Though the media, style, and content are all varied, a constant theme resonates: this work, produced while in class, illustrates a struggle and developmental process of discovering who they are and what they do as artists.
These are the visuals I provided for the Weisman grant. The installation walk-through is also posted in the video side bar.
Mother Monologues will be screened and Submit Secret will be open for submissions. Tickets are on sale now. Visit at www.coreprojectchicago.org
Do you always say what you think?
And do you really mean what you say?
What secrets are worth protecting?
And what does that reveal about you?
Submit Secret is an ongoing experiment that examines the relationship between our inner monologue and exterior dialogue. This piece is about reflecting on the hidden subtext of our lives mediated through shared authorship and anonymity. The participation of the viewer helps shape the content of this piece by responding to the written prompts and submitting it in the drop box. While the prompts vary in topic and levels of privacy, it ultimately asks participants to reflect on the things they hold onto versus the things they choose to share.
This exercise continues at: www.submitsecret.com
Follow submitsecret on Twitter!
Chicago Women's Caucus for Arts exhibit: Common Threads; All Things Connected Location: St. Paul's Cultural Center, 2215 W. North Ave, Chicago
