Constellation 09 – Suspect Alternatives
Blame it on summer’s unexpected turbulences, but we are back with our most journalistic efforts yet. Rather than criticism, we indulged our curiosities and went in search of the mysterious motivations that prompt people to found, run, and maintain alternative art spaces. This issue is devoted to the conversations and interviews with people who volunteer–or, at least, put in–their time, skills, and labor, to provide us with such excellent places to experience art.
In part, this investigation was inspired by painter Mira Schor’s observation in A Decade of Negative Thinking, that “the nature of what might be an alternative system is not given the time or space by mainstream art media. … In fact, when something appears in print without a commercial hook-up, you look for one anyway because it seems impossible that it could be there just because it is interesting” (242).
To find the people who bring us work “just because it is interesting,” we met with artists and curators involved with seven such alternative art projects: Midway Contemporary Art, the Soap Factory, Umber Studios, Form + Content, Art of This, SooVAC, and They Won’t Find Us Here. Our selection was determined by personal curiosity—and by who responded to our email queries. We hope you enjoy the profiles that have resulted from our interviews and conversations, and will share your thoughts and comments with us–and these artist enablers–via the “Post a Comment” feature at the end of each essay.
Click here for Quodlibetica 09 …
P.S. The Constellation on Cartographies, originally planned for August, had to be postponed. Look for it in October!
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