About Face

What We Do

About Face

215 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10009

Description

ABOUT FACE! A military command to turn around and march in the opposite direction. Or, as in the case of this exhibition, a timely imperative for us to look at alternative ways an exhibition can be created, presented and received.

The New Museum’s Festival of Ideas for the New City, was the conceptual impetus for this exhibition, a chance to open a public and professional dialogue on what an exhibition in a reconfigured city might be.

“What IS an exhibition?” Are any or are all of the components of an exhibition, such as artist, space, location, theme, production, duration, curator, public etc. necessary?

About Face gave fifteen artists an opportunity to respond to the elements of a traditional exhibition with the premise that such elements can be altered, eliminated or turned around.

About Face, accordingly, exists in different physical locations and for varied time spans. Some of the artwork is in this empty storefront, some on the streets of the surrounding neighborhood, while some exist in the virtual space of the Internet or a smartphone. Some works will endure for the time the space is open, such as Maria Jose Arjona’s performance, while others will last only a few hours like Itziar Barrio’s street installation. The division between artist and audience participation/collaboration is questioned in several works including Marinella Senatore’s film, “Variations” or paperJam's, installation, “Under Construction.” Who is a curator? In Ed Purver’s “Dropspots” the public becomes the curator as decisions are made on what objects to leave for the next viewer/participant to find.

By isolating the component parts of an exhibition in this way, it is our hope that a dialogue about alternative modes of production and presentation of art can begin. In Nicolas Bourriaud’s terms, the exhibition will be an “encounter” between the art, the public of many communities, the greater festival and the ideas which will emanate from these interactions. Through the programming, performance, interactive works, discussion in the spaces and in social networks, we invite YOU to participate in the ongoing dialogue