Saturday Symposium — 09.11.04 — at MASS MoCA — Concerning the Political
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in Art
Contents:
1. About this Saturday
2. Mass Moca’s Press Release About the Event
3. About MASS MoCA Series
http://www.16beavergroup.org
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1. About this Saturday
What: Talk at Mass Moca
When: Saturday September 11, 2004 4pm + 7pm
Where: North Adams, MASS
Who: 16Beaver
—–> 4pm — Forum
Concerning the Political in Art
Can you imagine a cultural production that can be, is politically
efficacious?
How would we begin to understand efficacy within a political/cultural
framework?
Are the rules different? Should they be?
Can you give us an example of such a work, whether historical or current?
In choosing this work, how do you see it resonating today?
participants will include:
Ayreen Anastas, Jim Costanzo, Anita DiBianco, Rene Gabri, Sofia Hernandez
Chong Cuy,
Jesal Kapadia Elke Marhöfer, John Menick, Yates McKee, Alan Moore, Angel
Nevarez,
Kevin Noble, Valerie Tevere, Rubén Ortiz Torres, Jacob Robinette, Spurse,
Bik Van Der Pol
short responses followed by an open discussion with all those attending.
—–> 7pm — Panel
The 7 P.M. section of the symposium titled “Tactics and Strategies for
Interventionists” is a panel discussion moderated by Interventionists
curator Nato Thompson. Panelists for “Tactics and Strategies” will include
art critics Rosalyn Deutsche and Gregory Sholette and artists Emily Forman
and Alex Villar. These experts will investigate the historical
antecedents as well as critique the effectiveness of current political art
practice.
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2. Mass Moca’s Press Release About the Event
MASS MoCA Hosts Interventionists’ Symposium with 16 Beaver
(North Adams, Massachusetts) The artists and curators behind MASS MoCA’s
latest exhibit, The Interventionists: Art in the Social Sphere, on display
through the Spring of 2005, will host a symposium on art for social change
on Saturday, September 11. Inspired by the exhibit itself, the symposium
will consist of two parts.
The 4 P.M. section, “No Profit –
Infrastructures of Resonance”, will be hosted by artist collective 16
Beaver. As is the practice of this collective, whose body of work is made
up of discussions, this forum is 16 Beaver’s work in The Interventionists
exhibition. The discussion on September 11 will revolve around artist
collectives that don’t make art. The 7 P.M. section of the symposium
titled “Tactics and Strategies for Interventionists” is a panel discussion
moderated by Interventionists curator Nato Thompson. Panelists for
“Tactics and Strategies” will include art critics Rosalyn Deutsche and
Gregory Sholette and artists Emily Forman and Alex Villar. These experts
will investigate the historical antecedents as well as critique the
effectiveness of current political art practice.
16 Beaver Street is a network of artists, curators, writers, thinkers, and
activists who regularly convene on lower Manhattan to discuss issues,
exchange ideas, and raise questions. Some members are “regulars” involved
on a day-to-day basis, while others participate more sporadically. The
organization is flexible and open to anyone. In addition to artist
presentations, political discussions, organized happenings, lunches,
walks, parties, and film screenings, participants regularly share and
discuss readings. A more ambitious manifestation of the familiar book
group, 16 Beaver has become a form of social sculpture that German artist
Joseph Beuys referred to as an “ongoing conference.”
Nato Thompson’s critical writings can be found in the journals Parkett,
tema celeste, CAA Art Journal, In These Times, and The New Art Examiner.
He was a founding member of the Department of Space and Land Reclamation
(2001), a radical collective based in Chicago. He recently curated the
exhibition Fantastic at MASS MoCA which featured the work of artists
Gregory Crewdson, Temporary Services with Angelo, Nils Norman, Alicia
Framis and Miguel Calderón.
In contrast to the sometimes heavy-handed political art of the 1980s,
interventionists of the new century have begun to carve out compelling new
paths for artistic practice, coupling hard-headed politics with a
light-handed approach, embracing the anarchist Emma Goldman’s dictum that
revolutions and dancing belong together. The projects in The
Interventionists – whether they are discussions of urban geography, tents
for homeless people, or explorations of current labor practices – are
seasoned with honey rather than vinegar.
The Interventionists’ Symposium is supported by a grant from the
Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. The Interventionists
exhibition, outreach programs, and educational activities and materials
have been funded in part by a MetLife Foundation Museum Connections
Program grant, along with generous support from the Nathan Cummings
Foundation, The Porches Inn, Evelyn Stefansson Nef; Mondriaan Foundation,
Amsterdam; Nimoy Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, LEF New
England, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Artists’ Resource Trust (a
Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation), Holly Angell Hardman
and the Peter Norton Foundation.
Tickets for The Interventionists’ Symposium are free with museum
admission, but advance reservations are required and can be made through
the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from
10 A.M. until 6 P.M. daily through September 7. After September 8 the
galleries and box office are open from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M., closed
Tuesdays. Tickets can also be reserved by phone by calling
413.662.2111.
MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts
in the United States, is located on Marshall Street in North Adams on a
13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.
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3. About MASS MoCA Series
At the conclusion of May 2004, MASS MoCA opened its doors to “The
Interventionists: Art in the Social Sphere – a brief survey of
interventionist political art practices of the 90s”.
Since 1999, we have been organizing events, presentations, and activities
which have among other things generated/addressed questions related to
social/political engagement within cultural practice.
So rather than produce something outside our framework of ongoing
activities for this exhibition, we will instead tie together our
discussions/events which deal with the larger questions of art in the
social sphere.
We will not only attempt to invite artists who are involved with the
exhibition, but other projects, artists, practices which we find
interesting and believe make an important contribution to the subject at
hand. We also hope to organize some readings and open discussions that do
not center on one particular artist or group.
Other events in the series have included:
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/000792.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/000668.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001073.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001103.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001112.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001141.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001154.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001158.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001178.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001219.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/archives/001244.php
Related texts:
http://www.16beavergroup.org/sholette
http://www.16beavergroup.org/brian
http://www.16beavergroup.org/journalisms/archives/001081.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/journalisms/archives/001168.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/001176.php
http://www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/001177.php
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16 Beaver Group
16 Beaver Street, 5th fl.
New York, NY 10004
phone: 212.480.2093
for directions/subscriptions/info visit:
http://www.16beavergroup.org
TRAINS:
4,5 Bowling Green
N,R Whitehall
2,3 Wall Street
J,M Broad Street
1,9 South Ferry