Register here for Workshop #3!
When artists make work about death, we are affirming our relationships to the living world. Doing this well requires that our studio practice be focused on asking questions, seeking connection, and inviting collaboration – with the living and the dead, with the past and the future, with the human and non-human.
These three stand-alone workshops will look at many different ways to engage with death, mortality, and grief through art and community. Artists will find new ways to work with these topics in their own personal studio practice, and do so with the utmost respect and care for themselves, their subjects, and their audience.
We will read and discuss short pieces of writing, look at artworks, and experiment with creative writing as critical tools for the visual artist. You need not be an artist to join us! Readings are available for free in advance here: https://www.burialblankets.net/art-for-the-living-and-the-dead
Masks will be required at this event. Comfort Station will provide extra masks, as well as a HEPA air purifier for the space.
Workshop #3:
To Whom This May Concern (with Anders Zanichkowsky)
9/22/2024
6pm - 9pm
How do we address our work to an audience or subject who is out of reach – the dead, the as-yet-unborn, our non-human relatives? Rather than trying to solve this mystery, which has captivated human cultures for tens of thousands of years, we will discuss art and writing that asks questions rather than giving answers, and which embraces uncertainty as a desirable experience for both the artist and their audience. We will also use creative writing exercises to compose personal correspondence with recipients who cannot receive our letters, to generate new text and ideas we can use in our studio practices.
Artists
Alfredo Jaar, “The Rwanda Project: Real Pictures” (installation). Tilda Swinton “The Maybe” (performance). Dutes Miller & Stan Shellebarger, various selected works & artist statement, Anders Zanichkowsky, “and you in the woods and you” (short video), The Fayoum Portraits (Roman Egypt, 30 B.C.E. - 300 C.E.).
Felix Gonzales Torres, interview about “Portrait of Ross.”
John Berger, “Fayoum Portraits” (Portraits, pages 7 - 11)
This program is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Terra Foundation for American Art, and is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.
