Locally Localized Gravity
The Philadelphia ICA currently has a show up entitled “Locally Localized Gravity.” Their curatorial stament calls this a show organized around the concept of “artists-as-producers.” From the context of the rest of their literature, it’s fair to say that they mean producers of events, rather than producers of paintings.
“Each [artist or artist group] has created an installation that characterizes how they operate in the art world. The [sic] in turn have invited others: during its run, ‘Locally Localized Gravity’ will feature over 100 artists, musicians, lecturers, performers, writers and many other creators.” (via ICA, Philadelphia)
The show has met with praise from some (like the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) and mixed reviews from others:
The substantial events schedule for “Gravity” are available on the ICA’s Web site; a downloadable PDF catalog soon will be.
The events are the missing, critical dimension for visitors who come in when nothing special is happening. It’s like wandering into an empty theater on the morning of opening night.
This points up the most salient characteristic of this communal art playground: its firm grounding in the moment. “Gravity” feels transient and serendipitous. All of what you see, hear and read today might not be available tomorrow. It’s art as blogging, with all that implies about substance and permanence. (review in the Philadelphia Daily News)
The curator/historian Alan Moore also offers a detailed (and highly critical) walk through the exhibition:
. . . But that the groups and spaces here represented specifically do not work together seems to be part of the concept. Neither do the grapes and bananas communicate in the fruitbowl which the ICA proudly wears upon its head, shaking its behind to lure the eyes of international curators to the home of the cheese steak. (via post.thing.net)
I guess ‘Dark Matter‘ doesn’t have a monopoly on adopted physics terms . . . and the show certainly has some people puzzling over what contemporary art has to do with theoretical questions about the number of dimensions that we inhabit.
Participating artists/groups: Black Floor Gallery, LURE, basekamp, Space 1026, Matt Bakkom, Red76, LTTR, and Fritz Haeg’s Sundown Schoolhouse
Also, some Flickr sets of action shots from the opening by Libby Rosof and Roberta Fallon.
During last year’s 
Friday, February 23, 2007 - Sunday, May 13, 2007French artist Sylvie Blocher has been working on her Living Pictures video series since 1992. This ongoing project is made up of multiple site-specific video installations. Each work follows a basic format: the artist recruits volunteers through classified ads and other postings, then conducts filmed interviews with these subjects. Editing the videos into a compilation, Blocher creates a group portrait out of individual encounters. Her interviewing technique opens up possibilities for personal response and reflection and touches on issues such as immigration, privacy, memory, and the authority of the artist. This exhibition features Living Pictures/Je et Nous, a 2003 project in which Blocher filmed volunteers wearing T-shirts printed with statements they had written. In addition, it includes a new San Francisco-based installment of Living Pictures, commissioned by SFMOMA.
