Last weekend, May 17-19, in Portland, Oregon, a few of us attended Open Engagement, a conference on art and social practice. Artists, architects, sociologists, professors, museum administrators, and others explored the many ways in which certain contemporary art practices blur the line between art and…something else—community development, social work, anthropology, farming, therapy, and more. Attendees could participate by attending discussions, lectures and experiencing artists’ projects. One of the highlights was Shine a Light, held at the Portland Art Museum, at which artists, educators, and Portland State University students in the MFA program in art and social practice reconsidered what is possible in an art museum. Amongst our favorite interventions was “Reinauguracion”, a ceremony dedicated to Mexican immigrant workers. Above, a photo of a fantastic mariachi band. Another was “Museum Songs Live”, in which museum staff collaborated with musicians to write and sing songs about and inspired by works in the collection. Here are the lyrics to a clever ditty about a Dan Flavin work:

LIGHT & TAXES

Oh Dan

Taxes have transcended your work

From mere art

To electrical device!

Oh man

The European union

Seemed so idealized

Taking care of citizens

And when

They added 20%

Instead of five

To keep devices alive

They ask:

Is it art or is it light?

We know when we glow alongside that

Infamous

Spectacular

Device

Installation week at MoMA Studio: Exchange Cafe!  Yesterday was a big day! We had graphics install the signage and the table texts plus Richard Knox’s Penny Machine came to us! We’re almost ready for you! See you Friday May 24 at 1:00 p.m. for our first day in the Research and Education building on 4 West 54th. Its free, no admission ticket necessary! 

At the conclusion of our Contemporary Art Forum: Art at Large: Art Making in the Long View, we are sharing some reflections on Tumblr. This is the fourth and last post in the series.

In “The Hypothetical Audience,” artist Trevor Paglen and art conservator Glenn Wharton explored how the meaning of an artwork evolves over time. Wharton spoke about his work with artists to document their intentions, since effectively preserving a piece’s meaning over time might actually require actions that seem incongruous with conservation, such as altering the physical work to preserve its desired effect in a given context. Along these lines, Paglen revealed that his intention in The Last Pictures is “deeply paradoxical,” since he aims to both foster dialogue on the included images as representations of society and also reflect on the reality that images are only legible based on  context—an intention that raises questions about what components conservators should preserve.

A number of takeaways emerged, but one stood out in particular: as artists think increasingly broadly about artworks responding to their surroundings in the long term, the field of conservation is becoming more engaged in the process of treating works to avoid simply freezing them in a pristine state. 

At the conclusion of our Contemporary Art Forum: Art at Large: Art Making in the Long View, we are sharing some reflections here over the next few days. This is the third post in the series of four.

The afternoon  included the session “Questioning the Constraints of Time and the Unpredictability of the Creative Process.”  A range of perspectives were represented on the panel, with curator Brooke Davis Anderson presenting her exhibition Obsessive Drawing, theorist Svetlanta Boym speaking on the work of Raqs Media Collective and her notion of the off-modern, writer Tan Lin showing his PowerPoint works, and artist Julieta Aranda discussing her conceptual art. Across these varied points of view, certain themes emerged regarding the ways that creative practice can use time as a subject, a medium, and a tool. In particular, the conversation sparked inquiry on how art might be able to expand our individual experience of temporality. Some models that their practices demonstrate include: creating a rupture in the progression of time, opening meditative space in time, manifesting an abstract measurement of time, or distancing us from time’s presence altogether.

What do you think; how might these models inform or alter you own perceptions of time?

iheartmyart:

Jenni Sparks’ Hand Drawn New York

(via letsbuildahome-fr)

A unique hand-drawn perspective of the Big Apple!