NYC Stop / Audacity of Desperation

DEMO Space 122 presented the NYC stop of “The Audacity of Desperation”, a 3-day nomadic exhibition of take-away projects (initiated and curated by Jessica Lawless and Sarah Ross and organized by Steven Lam) in conjunction with a series of performances and workshops responding to the spin of the upcoming election.

TAKE-AWAYS:

Artworks by activists, artists, enthusiasts and very concerned people are made in unlimited editions to be freely distributed. These artworks function as counter-propaganda. Like a virus, they are activated outside the exhibition context, in domestic and public spaces, on bodies, clothes, bags... This collection of take-away posters, manifestos, DIY kits, postcards, stickers, buttons and multi-media projects will travel throughout the country, creating a space to build relationships and foster dialogue around the desperate state of affairs resulting from a calamitous administration, complacent congressional leaders and a disempowered citizenry.

MODES OF ENCOUNTER:

In parallel to the take-away work on display, the exhibition will be structured as a succession of modes of encounter orchestrated by interested volunteers. Utilizing the exhibition parameters as a site of social experimentation, this open-ended program of conversations, workshops and performances will solicit the active and reciprocal participations of visitor and artist alike, thereby inviting reflection on how communities become connected, alliances selected, coalitions established.

PARTICIPANTS:

Wanda Acosta, Avi Alpert, Katja Aglert, Alas (Randy Wallace & Rae Culbert), Eric Anglès, Steve Ausbury, Mark Bechtel, Daniel Bejar, Lindsay Benedict, David Bench, Caitlin Berrigan, Mary Billyou, Jody Buchman, Center for Urban Pedagogy, Coco Rico, Theresa Columbus, Heidi Cunningham, Solidad Decosta, DJ Lightbolt, Andrea Domesle, Feel Tank Chicago, Von Edwards, Sarah Ferguson, Elaine Gan, Anthony Graves & Emily Votruba, Dara Greenwald & Steve Lambert & Josh MacPhee & the Anti Advertising Agency, Benj Gerdes, Patrick Grenier, Tamar Guimaraes, Carla Herrera-Prats, Sarah Kanouse & Tianna Kennedy & Lee Azzerello, Caroline Kelley, Scott Kiernan, Rosamond S. King, Anné M. Klint, The League of Imaginary Scientists, Norene Leddy with Ed Bringas, Erin Ming Lee, Let's Re-Make, Runo Lagomarsino, Ilya Lipkin, Douglas Minkler, Carlos Motta, Huong Ngo, elin o'Hara slavick, Sreshta Rit Premnath, Sheila Pinkel, Jenny Polak, Jill Posener, Nancy Popp, Jeremy Eilers & Davis Rhodes & Nic Xedro, Anthony Rayson, John Richey, Lizabeth Eva Rossoff, Stephanie Rothenberg, Edward Schexnayder, Dorothy Schultz, Heath Schultz & Brad Thomson, Robert Samel Snyderman, John Wedger, Gordon Winiemko, Audra Wolowiec, Carrie Yury, Huang Xiaopeng, Xtine, among others

DEMO Space 122 will officially open in 2009. A parallel exhibition space to the PS122 Art Gallery, DEMO Space 122 (located on the 2nd floor) is a not-for-profit organization that catalyzes new futures for contemporary artistic production with programs that utilize the intimate and participatory setting of a former classroom as a site for inquiry and process. Envisioned to be a laboratory for community participation, DEMO Space 122 seeks to further the mission of PS 122 Art Gallery by providing cross cultural dialog and a venue for art exhibitions and social activism.