LIMITS and BOUNDARIES: an idea for a show

I want to curate a show about "Limits and Boundaries". It will explore artist's take on dealing with limitations, something many people are experiencing these days, mainly on economic and material levels. But those levels affect other realms and cause adjustment of ideas and thoughts. While the concept of limits might not be one of the most popular in the history of humankind (at least not in our western civilization where we think we would love to keep expanding indefinitely), in my mind limits and boundaries are not necessarily a negative thing - they can be freeing and liberating as well as grounding. They bring people down to earth and make them work and create within real not just imaginary parameters and, I should add, sometimes produce real as opposed to imaginary works.

I feel the theme is fitting, because our house is an example of creating something within a very tight set of rules and limitations and discovering a unique solution. The limits were instrumental to the creation.

Then there is the other way to look at it: transgressing, dissolving, erasing, blending boundaries. Just because - just because boundaries, limits exist (in real world or our imagination). Just because we are humans ...\\\???

What is your take on this? Email me if you would like to contribute your ideas, work or thought experiments.

Food for Thought Cafe (FfTC - for short)

I've sent this in as a proposal for The Gift Shop - "a cascading cavalcade of adventurous, collaborative, celebratory artistic energy" - an excellent project at Henry Art Gallery organized by Matthew Offenbacher.

Whether or not it will be realized at The Gift Shop I will share my proposal here (maybe a group of artist would be into taking over a cafe for a week or so?)

I would like to turn the space into a coffee shop/ restaurant. Just like a regular coffee shop it would serve a mixture of food and art, but in this case their roles would be reversed. What would be on the menu and served at the tables would be artworks and artist created artifacts, the food would be displayed on the shelves on the walls with price tags next to it. I would like to bring attention to (and poke fun of) the idea that artists are expected to show in the coffee shops and restaurants to somehow "prove" themselves before showing at galleries/museums. I am sure I am not the only artist who did try or at least considered this route at some point in their career (it was suggested to me by a prominent gallery owner).

But I have a couple of interesting questions: how is this suppose to work for the artist? and where does this idea come from? I think the romantic idea behind the whole set up is that an unknown genius artist should place their work in a restaurant and wait for the art loving enlightened patron to eventually lift his gaze from his plate ... a) and exclaim aaah - I just discovered a great artist, I will buy his/her work so he/she can buy some food (kinda like I am eating) ... and the artist becomes (somehow - I admit I still don't see the connection) well known enough to get paid for his/her work, gets to show in galleries/museums and eureka! they all live happily ever after. ...b) fill in the details, make up your own happy ending ...c) patron looks back down, eats his food, leaves and nothing happens (but it was certainly a pleasurable dinner). - Note: I am not bitter, I like dining in nice places with art, I am just having fun with writing and imagining these scenarios.

So the second question is: where does this fairy tale that is so deeply ingrained in our collective mind come from? I could trace it to Paris circa 1900 (someone more knowledgeable in art history could correct me) - as impressionism and the other isms were being created, met and shown at cafes. So maybe from there on out, for the next hundred years plus, the cafe becomes the most logical place to discover art geniuses (remember - you are not a real artist unless you are a genius, better yet a suffering or dead genius).

So, I want to stand all these preconceived ingrained ideas on their heads, make art and do some good cooking; I expect the artists would cook the various meals on display as well as make menu artwork. Customers would be served art at their tables, they could also pick up food of the display shelves. (And I would get to wear my aprons - one for making art, one for cooking :).

another idea for show: My Home Is My Castle (Looking for Home Inside and Out)

What, where and why about home_page.project

The main idea is to develop project space/gallery in my house on Beacon Hill, and to present a series of art shows and events relevant to our place and moment in time. I want to open the space in my home to both artists and audiences. My aim is to organize shows, readings and performances that comment on, contribute to, and experiment with, the very moment we live in. I hope to create new connections among local artists and community and to share our work and ideas with larger audiences. The very idea of having art shows/events in my home is about sharing, being local and open.

Why in my house? In my mind, blending of private and public realms, is reflective of living and working in the present moment (i.e. the ubiquitous Reality TV shows, You Tube, Blogs and general trends of decentralization). In the sea of virtual spaces and information, this project is about making a real, physical, YOU ARE HERE, dot on the map. I think of it as creating real, physical, flesh-and-bones website that exists in body as well as in spirit. If a website is my home in the virtual world, then I want my home to be a website in the real world. Just like a website I want my home to fully reflect what I do and who I am. I want to use this project as a platform for experimenting with curatorial ideas, create site specific installations and performances and bring the artwork out of established venues in to the neighborhood where I live.

Interior Spaces