Art as Social Action: An Introduction to the Principles and Practices
of Teaching Social Practice Art Book Launch with Social Practice Queens
Friday, May 11, 2018
6 to 8pm
[Image Description: The front cover of a book with the main title “ART AS SOCIAL ACTION” in large, black lettering and the subtitle “An Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Teaching Social Practice Art” in smaller teal lettering. At the bottom of the cover, the authors “Gregory Sholette, Chloē Bass, and Social Practice Queens” are listed in white lettering against a teal background. A thin, lime green line serves as the bottom border to the book.]
The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation hosted a book launch for Art as Social Action: An Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Teaching Social Practice Art, edited by Gregory Sholette and Chloë Bass of Social Practice Queens (a 2018 Rubin Foundation grantee). Art as Social Action is both a general introduction to, and an illustrated, practical textbook for the field of social practice, an art medium that has been gaining popularity in the public sphere. With content arranged thematically around such topics as direct action, alternative organizing, urban imaginaries, anti-bias work, and collective learning, among others, Art as Social Action is a comprehensive manual for educators on how to teach art as social practice. Several of the book's contributors, including Pedro Lasch, Sheryl Oring, and Daniel Tucker, were present to facilitate discussion about social practice methodologies.
Bios
Pedro Lasch (US/Mexico/Germany) is a visual artist, Duke University professor, and 16 Beaver organizer. He is also Director of the FHI Social Practice Lab at Duke. Solo exhibitions and presentations include Open Routines (QMA), Black Mirror (Nasher), Abstract Nationalism (Phillips Collection) and Art of the MOOC (Creative Time); group exhibitions include MoMA PS1 and MASS MoCA (USA); RCA, Hayward Gallery, and Baltic (UK); Centro Nacional de las Artes, MUAC, and National Palace Gallery (Mexico); Prospect 4 Triennial New Orleans (2017), Gwangju Biennial (2006), Havana Biennial (2015), Documenta 13 (ANDANDAND, 2012), and 56th Venice Biennale (CTS, 2015). Author of four books, his work has appeared in numerous catalogues as well as journals like October Magazine, Saber Ver,Art Forum, ARTnews, Cultural Studies, The New York Times, and La Jornada. His online pedagogical artwork ART of the MOOC has had over 25,000 enrolled participants in 134 countries since it launched in 2015. To learn more about his work, visit www.pedrolasch.com.
Sheryl Oring’s work examines social issues through projects that incorporate old and new media to tell stories, examine public opinion and foster open exchange. Her public art commissions include major works for airports in Tampa and San Diego as well as commissioned performances for the City of Pittsburgh; Bryant Park, New York; Jewish Museum, Berlin; and the Berlin Wall Memorial. Oring’s work has been shown in festivals such as Encuentro in São Paulo,Brazil, and the Art Prospect Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her artist books are in collections including the Library of Congress, Tate Modern, and the Bibliothèque nationalede Luxembourg. Oring, an Associate Professor of Art at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is the recipient of grants from the Creative Capital Foundation, Franklin Furnace, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She divides her time between North Carolina, New York and Berlin and is currently planning a retrospective of her work for the Lois and David Stulberg Gallery at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida.
Social Practice Queens (SPQ) is a unique MFA concentration and new Advanced Certificate Program bringing together the resources of an academic research institution, Queens College (City University of New York: CUNY) with the long-standing activism of the Queens Museum. The MFA concentration and Advanced Certificate Program in social practice integrate studio work with social, tactical, interventionist and cooperative forms. SPQ’s goal is to initiate interdisciplinary projects with real world outcomes rooted in CUNY’s rigorous departmental offerings in tandem with the Queens Museum’s ongoing community engagement programs.
Daniel Tucker works as an artist, writer, and organizer, developing documentaries, publications, exhibitions, and events inspired by his interest in social movements and the people and places from which they emerge. His writings and lectures on the intersections of art and politics and his collaborative art projects have been published and presented widely. Tucker recently completed the feature-length video essay Future Perfect: Time Capsules in Reagan Country and curated the exhibition and event series Organize Your Own: The Politics and Poetics of Self-Determination Movements. He earned his MFA from University of Illinois at Chicago and BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is an Assistant Professor and founding Graduate Program Director in Social and Studio Practices at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, please visit miscprojects.com.