Jessica Lynne interviews artist Tiona McClodden for ART21 Magazine about McClodden’s Affixing Ceremony: Four Movements for Essex, a digitally based project commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Art.
I was approached by the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), in Philadelphia, about doing a World AIDS Day project, an online commission. I almost turned it down, saying that I don’t do online work…After my original proposal, I had a meeting with the entire staff, which is unheard of, but the feedback was completely positive. They thought my idea was too much, though; they were looking for a single project. I simply told them: I make big work. Because I’m not a designer, the ICA then put me in contact with their design team so that I could be in control of the project’s structure. I created a script and, with the design team’s point person, could then think about tinkering with the site as the project developed.
McClodden’s digital commission on the legacy of Essex Hemphill can be accessed here. In addition to executing this project, McClodden also served as a juror for ICA’s Open Video Call 2016.