Porch Projects Presents: What if I take my problem to the United Nations?

“I'm gonna take my problem to the United Nations.”

-Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues”

“What if I take my problem to the United Nations?”

-PJ Harvey, “The Words That Maketh Murder”

Porch Projects’ upcoming exhibition, curated by DC based artist Tim Campbell, brings together the efforts of five artists working in DC, New York, Connecticut, Detroit, and Paris. Many of the works in the exhibition (which range from painting to sculpture to performance documentation) focus on the human body as subject but extend beyond the figure itself to explore themes such as constraint, balance, extension, materiality, environment, and the artificial. The currents of meaning that run between and among these works raise questions about the methods, politics, and problems of bodily representation in our digital age.

What if I take my problem to the United Nations? 

Featuring work by: Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, Chajana denHarder, Sam Ekwurtzel, Sarah Navasse Miller, Christopher Samuels 

Curated by: Tim Campbell

Opening reception: April 21, 2012, 4-7 pm

Exhibition open by appointment at other times.

Email porchprojectsdc[at]gmail[dot]com for more information.

About the participants:

Tim Campbell lives and works in Washington, DC. He received an MFA from American University (2008), a BS from Skidmore College (2005), and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2010. In 2009, he was an artist-in-residence at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris. He has recently exhibited at School 33 (Baltimore), Tompkins Projects and Zora Space (Brooklyn), and will be included in “Lost and Found” at the Museum of New Art (Pontiac, MI) in 2012. Learn more at www.tim-a-campbell.com.

Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, currently living and working in Brooklyn, received an MFA from the Tyler School of Art (2010) and a BA from Hampshire College (2006). He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2010) and previous exhibitions include Bodega Gallery and Vox Populi (Philadelphia), Northampton Center for the Arts (Northampton, MA), and Abron’s Art Center (NYC). Learn more at www.straussbourquelafrance.com.

Chajana denHarder’s performances have been featured at the National Portrait Gallery, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and in public places throughout Washington, DC. She has also shown her work at the Washington Project for the Arts, DC Arts Center, and Hillyer Artspace, and was a 2011 recipient of a Young Artist Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Currently based in DC, she received a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. Learn more at www.chajana.com.

Sam Ekwurtzel is a sculptor currently based in New London, Connecticut. Ekwurtzel received his BFA from the University of Hartford (2006) and his MFA from Columbia University (2010). He was a 2010 Fountainhead Fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University and has also attended The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He has exhibited at venues including Smack Mellon and LeRoy Neiman Gallery (NYC); Vox Populi (Philadelphia); Real Art Ways (Hartford); and Art-St-Urban (Switzerland). Learn more at seafe.tumblr.com.

Sarah Navasse Miller currently divides her time between Paris and Washington, DC. She received an MFA from American University (2011) and an MA in Art History from the Sorbonne (2009). Her work has been shown at the Katzen Art Center, the Festival du Touquet (France), Espace Artes (France), the Washington Studio School, and the Village Art Gallery (Montgomery, AL). Learn more at sarahnavassemiller.free.fr.

Detroit based artist Christopher Samuels has shown at Northend Studios Gallery, the Museum of New Art (Detroit), CAVE Gallery, Detroit Industrial Projects, and Bodega Gallery (Philadelphia). Samuels is the founder and former direct of Detroit arts space ORG Contemporary. He attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2010. Learn more at www.christophersamuels.com.

(Image: Chajana denHarder, Bodyworks)

MEGATRON'S DEAD Exhibition Images & Press

MEGATRON'S DEAD opened to media fanfare and record crowds last weekend.  Here's a taste of the work on view:

Press for MEGATRON'S DEAD:
East City Art
Huffington Post
Washington Post Weekend Section (not online yet!)

Thanks, writers!

Porch Projects Presents: MEGATRON'S DEAD

Porch Projects opens its second year of artist-focused programming with MEGATRON'S DEAD, a collaborative exhibition by artists Bonner Sale, Samuel Scharf and Zac Willis.

MEGATRON'S DEAD is a multimedia experience honoring the cultural icon Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. Join the artists, visitors, and other interested parties in celebrating MEGATRON'S life and achievements while also paying your respects at the character graveyard.  

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 25, 4-7:00 pm. 

Remembrance speech at 5:00 pm.

Exhibition available by appointment at other times.

Email for directions or more information: 

porchprojectsdc [at] gmail [dot] com

About the Artists:

Bonner Sale is a Brooklyn based artist who has exhibited his drawings and collages in several venues in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD. His work was included in Nudashank Gallery's Wise Guise (2009) and Stay Tooned at John Fonda Gallery (2011). Learn more at bonnersale.com.

Samuel Scharf is a has exhibited his multimedia works throughout the Washington, DC, region. In 2011, his work was included in Conner Contemporary's annual Academy exhibition and the Arlington Arts Center's Planning Process. He will receive his MFA from American University this spring. Learn more at samuelscharf.com.

Zac Willis received his MFA from American University in 2009. He has exhibited his sculpture and photography in the area, including recent projects at Artspace in Richmond, in Washington Project for the Arts' Coup d'Espace program, and at Greenpoint Gallery in Brooklyn. Learn more at zacwillis.com.

Thanks to All, and to All a Good Night!

Thanks to everyone (artists, visitors, writers, curators) who made the first year of Porch Projects a grand success.  Porch Projects will be taking a little break over the holidays but will return next year with a new round of exhibitions.  Please stay tuned for more details.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and wise 2012.

THE RIFT at PORCH PROJECTS

Porch Projects, Le Chien Sauvage, & The Lab for Remixed Knowledge Present:  THE RIFT

The Lab for Remixed Knowledge needs your help.*

On a recent visit to Porch Projects, the Lab discovered a rift in the space-time-meaning continuum. Entering the rift, we encountered a space where nothing was as it should be. Common points of reference were fundamentally altered. Signs dissolved into signal. Things grew wings. Confronted by this proliferation of possibility, we tried to create a map of the rift. But our observations, instead of collapsing the multiple reality-potentials we saw into a single reality, further destabilized the system. Meanings mutated, mated and multiplied. When we came out of the rift, we compared our maps. Each was different. Each provided a different set of coordinates for the psychosemantic phenomena we experienced. And when we re-entered the rift, our maps were no longer accurate, could not guide us deeper, or assure us passage home. We realized we were in over our heads. That one map, or even two, could not provide the path we seek, could not create the sigil that we need to harness the powerful energies that the rift has unleashed. This is a mountain we draw the mountain it is not a mountain. And that is where you come in.

In order to understand the rift, we need a better map. We need a Map of Maps. We need you to enter the rift.

*On Friday, November 4, the Lab will send pairs of volunteers into the rift to help us create this Map of Maps. Please join us by responding to this email, including your name, your partner’s name, and your choice of the following investigation times. Your entry into THE RIFT will thus be reserved.

Investigation times (all are pm): 6:30, 6:45, 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45, 8:00, 8:15, 8:30

Porch Projects & The Lab for Remixed Knowledge Present:

THE RIFT

November 4, 2011; 6:30-8:30 pm

Email porchprojectsdc@gmail.com to schedule your RIFT entry.

***

ABOUT THE LAB (remixknowledge.com)

The Lab for Remixed Knowledge aims to revolutionize the field of knowledge through the art and science of remixing. Through participatory experiences, performance lectures, training sessions, and artifact production, the Lab aims to train individuals to remix knowledge and hack reality. Lab members Adam Good and Gabe Walsh discovered the rift at Porch Projects, and created the experimental framework for mapping it.

ABOUT ADAM GOOD (therealadamgood.com)

Adam is the founder of the Lab, and its Chief Investigator. Born in Greensboro, NC, and currently residing in Pittsboro, NC, Adam received his B.A. in Literature from American University in 2004. Recent work includes swarm_emerge, for the (e)merge art fair; One Hour Photo, at the Biel/Bienne photography festival, and The Lab for Remixed Knowledge at Washington Project for the Arts. His interdisciplinary practice centers on the ways in which meaning is produced through language. His performances & experiences have also appeared at Pulse Miami, the Transmodern Festival, the Umami Festival, the Phillips Collection, and online.

ABOUT GABRIEL WALSH (earthlyframes.com)

Gabriel Walsh makes movies, music and games. Under the banner of The Earthly Frames, Walsh has created a unique sound and alternate reality story world for his experimental pop performances. His current project, Hoarding 11, continues in this directing combining a short film, card game, fiction creation system as well as many transmedia elements such as faux web sites and road-side billboards. He is the Chief Game Architect for the Lab.

Porch Projects Presents: Open Hours for All in All 10/20, 6-8 pm

Porch Projects will hold Open Hours for viewers to take one last look at the current show All in All, featuring work by Megan Mueller and Annie Albagli.  Please join us from 6:00-8:00 pm on Thursday, October 20, to celebrate the artists’ beautiful works.

Open Hours for All in All

Porch Projects

October 20, 6-8 pm

email porchprojectsdc [at] gmail [dot] com for directions.

And mark your calendars: the next Porch Projects exhibition will take place November 4, featuring The Lab for Remixed Knowledge with chief lab investigator Adam Good and primary games theorist Gabe Walsh.

Porch Projects Interview: Patrick McDonough Talks About [ ]

Q: Can you say more about how this work reflects upon the collaborative process?

PM: I think that it lays bare a number of key issues in artistic production, including those about collaboration. Namely, what do you do when offered an opportunity as an artist? How does that navigation play out? Is there an appropriate level of deference towards alternative spaces that we are somehow violating? Is the artist as trickster/jester a pretty viable model within wider cultural production?

As for concepts of collaboration, I believe that we unpacked concepts of the individual within the collective, how that does and does not get made legible to outside parties, and how collaborative efforts relate to individual artist practices.

Q: Which of you wrote on which wall?

PM: We’d rather not say. But I do think that this points to questions of collaboration posed above. Is there a need on the part of the viewer to try and unpack the roles/personalities within the collaboration? If so, why?

Q: Do you prefer the light to be on, or off?

PM: I like it best with the sunlight coming in through the windows.

Q: “Me Too,” as in, “I second that”?

PM: If you say so.

Q: The language in the two statements doesn’t make sense grammatically. How long did it take you to come up with these statements, and why the disconnect?

PM: We chewed on the ideas for the collaboration for sometime: conceptualizing, negotiating, editing. As for the disconnect, I think that it mediates the combination phrases in some way—individualizes them, makes the relationship less seamless.  Plus, I personally really like ideas of mistakenness in my work, not failure, but just doing things a little wrong.

Q: Did you consider doing something off-site? Is that what you’re doing now?

PM: We thought about lots of potential projects for the space, including outside the gallery space proper. Right now we are in the conceptualization phase for future projects.

Q: Explain in more detail how your work here relates to the space.

PM: I think it, if nothing else, calls attention to the space itself.  From the physical dimensions, to Mariah’s generosity on embarking on the exhibition project, the fact that it is in her home, and even your own body in the gallery. I think that such concepts are usually saved for more institutionalized environments, but we found it more interesting and productive to employ them here.

Q: So, what would you have done with a bigger space? And given that space could be conceived of as a mental and verbal constraint, what does that say about the way you perceive your own work?

PM: I’m not sure what we would have done with a bigger space, we did this project with this space. I am not trying to be dismissive, I just think that it is important to really emphasize that this is what we did. We could have filled the room with jello, installed a home office, hung some paintings, arranged some sculptures, or glued the door shut, but we didn’t do any of those things, we did this piece. Clearly the “If you wanted us to do something….” text suggests this question, but I think that burden of its answering should stay with the viewer.

Q: Lemon = Lemonade. Space = ?

PM: [ ]

Q: What would Malcolm McLaren say?

PM: I think he would tell us to come make a record with him. 

Q: Is it about the question? What is the question?

PM: What will we do next? 

Q: But ultimately, didn’t you do something?

PM: Of course! That is part of the nuance I think. It’s like when Barltelby says he ‘would prefer not to’, he is of course doing something. But I think that that turn of phrase brings up ideas of how much do you need to do, what do you do when someone asks you to do something, if you can do anything which something do you do? 

Q: How do you think this project will influence your individual practices going forward? 

PM: It has already made me think a lot about ideas of brashness, context specificity, and escapism through persona adopting. I also learned a lot through collaborating with Matias and look forward to more such adventures. I’d also like to very much thank Mariah for letting us explore our ideas and being supportive of our experimental attitude towards [ ], which has definitely led to growth for me.