Jan 17, 2023
Virtual Experience: Sissel Tolaas: RE_________
Sissel Tolaas: RE_________ September 16–December 30, 2022 In the course of a single day, each of us breathes in and out around 24,000 times. With each breath, irresistible signals are sent straight to the brain—including smells, which in a matter of nanoseconds trigger emotions and memories, stirring up the subconscious in turn. For Norwegian-born Sissel…
Sep 27, 2022
Artist Interview: Sissel Tolaas
Comprised of 20 works, or “situations”, as the artist calls them, Sissel Tolaas’ current ICA exhibition, RE_________ addresses a range of issues––from climate change and geopolitics to evolution and anthropology––all through smell. Watch Tolaas describe what it means to be an “in-betweener”, her smell-collection process, and how her traveling, site-specific exhibition, RE_________, was adapted for…
Sep 15, 2022
Sissel Tolaas: RE_________ Reading List
As a self-described “in-betweener”, Sissel Tolaas’ practice is a meeting of art and science. Using smell to explore memory, identity, and how we perceive and respond to the world around us, Tolaas has amassed a database of more than 10,000 molecules over twenty-five years. Her current, site-specific ICA exhibition, RE_________, comprises of 20 works, or…
May 10, 2022
Virtual Experience: RAW Académie at ICA: Infrastructure
RAW Académie at ICA: Infrastructure March 16–May 22, 2022 Based in Dakar, Senegal, RAW Académie is a residential program for the research and study of artistic and curatorial practice and thought that is rooted in the question: “How do we learn from each other?” For the ninth session of its Académie, RAW will relocate its…
Apr 22, 2022
Bryant Wells
Bryant Wells shares methods of distribution that antagonize prevailing methods inherent to the institution. Over the course of the sixth week, Bryant has aided the fellows in developing their new model for infrastructure. This event was held on April 20, 2022. Bio Bryant Wells is an independent designer and developer based in New York City.…
Apr 18, 2022
Sarah Workneh
About Sarah Workneh invites and works with the fellows to expand their own practices within the context of infrastructure. As the fellows begin drafting and proposing new concrete ideas for arts infrastructure, Sarah provides feedback on their proposals and guidance on how they might push their thinking further. This event was held on Friday, April…
Apr 15, 2022
Gudskul
About Gudskul share stories and engage with fellows through games about embracing and developing the collectivity as an aspect of building infrastructure. Within a collective model, the permission to fail and the asynchronous rhythms of collaborators becomes an integral part of the system itself. Gudskul (Contemporary Art Collective and Ecosystem Studies) is a public learning…
Apr 1, 2022
In Performance: Jason Moran
On March 23, 2018, jazz luminaries Milford Graves and Jason Moran mesmerized the audience at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee with their improvisational performance. It was the first collaboration between the two artists who push beyond the margins set by the artform that has defined their careers. Despite their thirty-four year age difference,…
Apr 1, 2022
In Conversation: Ulysses Jenkins + Maren Hassinger + Senga Nengudi
Collaborative exchanges have been a significant part of Ulysses Jenkins’s practice, most notably his interventions with artists Maren Hassinger and Senga Nengudi. His 1984 performance piece, Without Your Interpretation, which is also the title of his ICA retrospective, is one example of the numerous projects the trio worked on early in their careers. Watch Jenkins,…
Apr 1, 2022
Unknown Parallels with Taji Ra’oof Nahl
Watch Philadelphia-based artist Taji Ra’oof Nahl, whose work has connections with Ulysses Jenkins on many levels: a rich understanding of collaboration, utilization of video, historical indexing, and reenactment as practice. The conversation connects Jenkins’s and Nahl’s interdisciplinary work, their use of video editing techniques, staging of art happenings, documentation, and social commentary. Moderators are Penn…