OTHER OPTIONS

Alogon Gallery

Oct. 19 - Nov. 11 2007

Chicago, IL

"What new generative social possibilities do these activities create? How do they interface with broad political and philosophical themes? Are they fun? These are questions that seem infinitely more useful than, how they function "as art."
- LeisureArts
http://lesiurearts.blogspot.com

As part of the exhibition, Randall Szott (a.k.a. LeisureArts) presented his work, which will soon be available on InCUBATE TV.
The closing of the exhibition included a (Re)sale auction officiated by John Corbett of Corbett vs Dempsey.

Download catalog here.

Read review of the show in Newcity Chicago here.

Forays

Phil Orr & Ryan Thompson

Josh Greene

Into Cocoons
http://www.forays.org, by Forays (Geraldine Juarez and Adam Bobbette) address other options through their tool kits for grassroots activism. Using the character of the cocoon as a means of addressing the ways in which public and private space are increasingly instrumentalized towards political ends, Forays creates portable open source shelters from cheap and hacked materials. The cocoon exemplifies a temporary structure as it hangs aloft in the branches of a tree, suspended with aid of tyvek and tie down straps; it lives with nature and exists to provide a site of transformation, yet it can also function as a site of protection and camouflage should the need arise.

For Forays, the figure of the cocoon is an open-ended tool that can draw out different lines of potential beyond its physicality, for instance as a rift on the poetics of derelict and unconventional spaces through postings on Craigslist or as a tool for action for More Gardens, a community garden advocacy group in New York City. Forays writes, "The cocoon then comes to be an image of technology and making as open ended experimentation. The project begins partially and gains form and content as it passes from milieu to milieu."

Service Works http://josh-greene.com/serviceworks/, by Josh Greene shows us that there are other options with regards to funding sources for creative endeavors. Green, who waits tables at an upscale restaurant in San Francisco, has chosen to redistribute one night's worth of his tips on a monthly basis. The project serves to question the everyday myth of financial support - How does it work? Where does it come from? Who gets it? Service Works mimics the function of a typical granting organization, yet in a much more localized and micro-economic fashion. As a self-organized granting organization, unlike its larger and more rigid institutional counterparts, Service Works remains unencumbered by bureaucratic and administrative protocols; working in this manner creates an avenue to demystify the traditional grant-making process thus opening it to further critique and experimentation.

(RE)
http://reinspired.blogspot.com/, by Phil Orr and Ryan Thompson shows us that there are other options with regards to charitable fundraising. (RE) is an alternative model of activism that aims to: raise awareness for AIDS in Africa, encourage conscientious consumption, and provide a means of involvement for those who may be unwilling to participate in other more mainstream AIDS awareness campaigns. The (RE) project consists of three different initiatives: INSPI(RE)D, COV(RE)D, and (RE)SALE. Unlike other AIDS awareness campaigns, which rely heavily on corporate branding and the spectacular nature of the American mass media industry, (RE) takes on a more self-organized and transparent approach. Here the question of efficiency is paramount. The (RE) project is capable of passing on 100% of its proceeds to AIDS charities, while the other leading campaigns, for various other reasons including exorbitantly high overhead costs, can only manage to a channel a small percentage of their revenue to charity.