Join us in celebration of the opening of Madeline Aguilar and Jordan Knecht’s exhibition, (un)learning Center.
(un)learning Center is an amorphous venn-diagram of two peoples’ practices. Over three years of both direct collaboration and parallel play, Madeleine Aguilar & Jordan Knecht have spilled into each other, intuitively developing a methodology of improvisation, responsiveness and iterative creation. The result is a collection of structures and published works which nurture (un)learning, exploration, and collaboration.
The exhibition contains modular, interactive sound making structures built individually + collaboratively by the artists, serving as documents of mutual iteration. These structures are designed to nullify expertise, prioritizing collective exploration, empathetic interaction and ecstatic improvisation. The structures invite multiple players at once, cultivating a sonic-social awareness in relation to one another and all who are sharing the space.
For this exhibition, Aguilar and Knecht have curated a series of performances, inviting a variety of soundmakers to engage with these structures, pushing performers into new territory though creative constraints and expanding the sonic vocabulary of the objects, whose uses + functions are invented (discovered) anew with each use. As the structures are activated throughout the duration of the exhibition, distinction between visitor/creator/collaborator/artist quickly becomes unclear (and unnecessary).
Books and garments are available to browse and purchase in a non-centralized store in which purchases are made based on trust. The two artists have collaborated on new garments and books specifically for this exhibition.
Jordan Knecht is an artist, educator, musician, DJ, and systems designer, surfing the wave of unknowing. Jordan's work is rooted in play, a guiding force which informs all projects and collaborations.
Madeleine Aguilar is a multidisciplinary artist + musician from chicago. her work is often mobile / modular / interactive and can be found in backyards, libraries, storefronts, homes, galleries & book fairs.