Thinking about social practice

A few years back now, I met an invaluable friend, the amazing phenomenal Kim Tomlinson. She is a printmaker and is very interested in performance art and social practice. All three of those things are completely different from my usual approach to art. Printmaking is a technical feat of planning ahead- the goal and the vision comes first, then the work to make it happen; I paint in a completely different way with a vague notion of what I want or where I'm going, each action guiding the next. I love the idea of performance art, but in person it makes me incredibly uncomfortable because I'm not ready to be publicly vulnerable. And social practice, what even is that? It's a term I was not familiar with.

 

Kim Tomlinson. Kimfetti. Party poppers, people's sentimental letters, reciepts, etc. cut into various shapes, 2019.

 

As I understand it, social practice is taking your art and expanding its range- working with a group of people that aren't acknowledged as an art community, but working in a way that puts those people and their concerns first, finding out what they say they want or need. It's a people approach to art, which is counter to how I was taught about art where art is about the artwork and the artist. If that includes a community, great, but whatever.

 

Throwback to my show, Soetheby's Super Southern Social (2016). My first inklings of combining art and community started here, complete with bake sale.

 

Through Kim I've been introduced to artists around the area who are doing amazing things through thinking of art and exhibition space in a much broader way: Breanne Trammel, Juliette Walker and the Crust Bucket Collective, and Shannon Finnegan. In addition to the many, many projects and works that Breanne has had her hand in, she has created a space called Public Storage. Part of Public Storage was that each month she featured a different artist's work with a spot for anyone to take a free flyer/artwork/booklet that the artist had created.

 

From Public Storage. Image taken from www.breanne.info

Juliette Walker created a short-term art/project/exhibition/space called The Cake Stand. She sent out a call for art to be displayed on a cake stand. I participated in it and LOVED the space to think differently about what to make as well as getting to see what others did with that idea. There was a yarn cake, a tea cake, a scent, a seed cake turned terrarium, and so many others. She is currently working on something new, the Office of Possible Projects. The Crust Bucket Collective did something called Trunk Show, which was a mobile gallery in and on a Honda Fit. It featured works by ceramic artists and bumper sticker art, and it toured through different cities.

 

Juliette Walker. Collaborating with Marigolds. Handmade banner, natural fibers, marigold dye. 2020-

 

A project that immediately grabbed my attention was Shannon Finnegan's "Do you want us here or not?" They created blue benches and chairs with different phrases on them, like "It was hard to get here. Rest here if you agree," or "This exhibit has asked me to stand for too long. Sit if you agree." Another project they put together that is amazing is the Anti-Stairs Club Lounge. One event was a gathering of disabled and non-disabled people to protest ableism and inaccessibility at the Vessel, while another was a space at the Wasaic Project's exhibition space, made just for visitors who could not or did not wish to go upstairs.

 

Shannon Finnegan, from "Do you want us here or not". Heat transfer print, fabric, foam, ribbon. 2019

 

If these artists and their work around social practice weren't enough to grab my attention, there has also been an uncanny synchronicity I've found and experienced with different artists who are not directly connected to eachother's work or thought processes. I got to talk to Ana Sofia Camerga recently about some ideas I've got about showing artwork in a non-traditional way, and it turns out, she was already ahead of me. Frustrated with the galleries in her area, she chose to have a solo show in her apartment. She said it was a success in part because "people are nosy," and that a friend was asking her about doing something similar. I've also started reading a publication called "2+2 =CAKE" which is a conversation about these same sort of ideas.

 

From Ana Sofia Carmaga's "He Sentado Cabeza" ("I have settled down"), exhibited in her apartment.

 

I've been equating my ideas of what an exhibition space is with my legitimacy as an artist. Despite having many solo shows and being a part of several group shows a year, I've been belittling myself and the work that I put into making these things happen because they weren't in a space that seemed "legit", or really, when it comes down to it, art bougie enough. It's like having a goal weight. First of all, it's only a number. And beyond that, if I'm not at that number (read: art museum/gallery), then I'm failing. In that sort of headspace, I ignore all the hard work I'm doing and the whole of my health and how I affect my family.  Here's to moving forward and expanding our ideas of what an art space can be.

 

Kim Tomlinson. Crying Restrooom. 2019