Workshop ~ with Mark Allen & Jason Brown, Machine Project
Fall 2006 ~ 10.10.06
What are the aesthetic, social and practical implications of experiencing/making/thinking art with other people? Expanded ideas and practices of art have grown to include a wide range of activities more commonly understood or analyzed in terms of social interactions. In addition, changes in the technologies of archiving, communication and networking have created entire new art practices and impacted existing art and social experiences. Using this broad outline as a jumping off point, Machine Project directors Mark Allen and Jason Brown will lead a practical discussion and impractical workshop covering informal collaboration, artist as facilitator, and computer networks as curators.
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“Mark Allen and Jason Brown run Machine Project,” Qusai recounts, “from the premise that intellectual activities- art, science, electronic or sewing- can and should be social, in opposition to traditional gallery spaces where (barring the Saturday night free-cheap-wine openings) there is a greater participatory aspect leading to new and engaging experiences.”
Their Workshop was a balance of academic discussion and a more practical instructional session involving How-To’s in running a non-traditional gallery space. This included what to include and what not to include in email invitations (no attachments! no images!), when to send out these email invitations, and how to compose a proper list of people to receive these emails. Also, where they get funding and what it’s like to be a non-profit. The former comes more from foundations and less from personal donations. This affects the latter, as non-profits are required to receive one third of their funding from private contributions. “If we can’t figure out how to do this in five years,” Mark said, “we’ll probably just pack up and do something else.”
Sarah mentioned that some of the things that stuck with her were the ideas that 1.) When there is this kind of despair on the grand scale, we can still create festival on a small scale and 2.) it’s important to think about how big a target you want to be. Mass culture will probably still take whatever dissent you do and spit it back at you, so in order to avoid that you need to constantly keep moving.