There were several works at the exhibition that really I enjoyed on a deeper level. The first was "Something Happened Here" by Jin Jung. This work is a combination of various media including plaques, a map, a wooden sculpture of a house and wallpaper. I chose this because it interests me in the same way I am intrigued by the idea of trauma being imprinted on our DNA and even potentially passed on to future generations. The artist says locations are a collection of lived experiences and our identities are interconnected through places, the soil, buildings, etc. She also says this installation allows people to participate in a sequential memory. I feel it is an activist piece because if invites the viewer to also participate in the experience while it simultaneously educates them with the facts on the plaques. It also invites them to spin the words in the house, which prompts them to ask themselves the questions that are presented. I enjoy making 3d work and also using mixed media so this work was easy to identify with. My family is from Jersey City for generations and I love history, both personal and on a larger historical level. So when I saw it, I was eager to engage and learn more. The curatorial narrative seems to be both educate the viewer and invite them into the space to hear what the walls would say if they could talk. I think it addresses the idea of erasure and the questions that are asked in the house box inspires you to think about what makes us who we are, while connecting the viewer to so many past experiences that have shaped Jersey City but also the people in it.
Another installation was Jennifer Roberts' Family Album. What is interesting about this to me is that it happened almost as an act of desperation for the artist. She lost her family photos in a storage unit and tried to repaint what she could remember in her mind, and found she couldn't do it and it was upsetting to her. She begins buying old photos online, hoping she will come across her own, but instead ends up with a collection of someone else's discarded memories. She looks for glimmers of her own memories of her photos within them. I loved that she said in her statement that doing the installation gave her a sense of connection that she needed right now because that is what art can do. I chose to review this one because I also have a connection to old family photos and find such value in them as representation of family culture and relationships. The fact that she put a chair with a notebook and prompts for journaling, at a kitchen table type setup makes you feel like you are in a private space but you are prompted to act by reading the notebook or writing in it ( I wasn't sure if it was ok for us to write in it or it was only the artists writings). The work has activist vibes to me because it triggers the viewer to interact with the work, while also making you reflect on your own family and memories and whether or not you have photos of your own and what the represent for you. It connects to my life because we have a ton of family photos which I am so grateful for because my grandparents died before I was born, and although someone can tell me stories about them, they would never be able to show me what my grandmother's smile looked like, or what kind of style clothes she wore. The idea that the artist is now keeping someone else's memories safe since she can't do this with her own is interesting to me. I think the narrative is looking for our identity and sometimes finding pieces of it in other people.
I also really loved the Phantom Entanglement piece from Jaz Graf which was a combination of mixed media. The piece is meant to speak to humans and earth's relationship to one another as well as our relationships with our family and roots. I chose it first because it is visually beautiful to me and has an almost primal essence. Her bio says she explores the idea of our "connection to place, the location of identity". The piece looks almost like a portal to an ancient world. I am not sure if it is activist or interventionist. I enjoy using elements of nature when making art sometimes and the idea that the project could rot away over time is something that makes it less precious.
Towards a Curatorial Activism-Dr Maura Reilly
"I have coined the term ‘curatorial activists’ to describe
those individuals who have committed themselves to ‘counter-hegemonic
initiatives’ that give voice to those who have been historically silenced or omitted
from the ‘master narrative’. In other words, curatorial activists focus exclusively
on work produced by women, artists of colour, non-Europeans or queer artists.
Unlike most curators, who content themselves with organising exhibitions on
white European males (or exhibitions within which they are the majority), curatorial
activists are unable, ethically, to do so. And I would ask, don’t all curators have an
ethical responsibility to ensure that all artists are presented, not just the chosen,
elite few? Is there really a need for another exhibition on Monet or Picasso or
Michelangelo, in which the same ideas and images are regurgitated over and over
again?"
This applies to the exhibition "Home Here" because of the representation happening there. The curator of the show took to heart the idea of giving women a voice and leaned into the idea of getting all of these Jersey City, female, voices into one room and let their work riff off each other. Several people who were part of the show mentioned how they considered the pieces ion relation to each other, and how they gave additional meaning sometimes by existing in the same space. That is what great, inclusive curating can magically do.
The Art of Activism- The Steve's
"The work usually doesn’t go as planned: materials are hard to and, things break, people get sick, target locations shift, and police presence increases. These changes and setbacks happen in every project. Not accounting for the amount of work needed and the delays that inevitably occur can be depressing and debilitating. Producing good work takes a lot of work: we need to know and expect this."
This is important to know when you are beginning to do anything. The learning process should include stumbles and mishaps. The saying " A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor" applies here. Encountering adversity and learning to navigate is all part of the making of a resilient activist who can navigate all kinds of situations to get their message out here.
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