Flexible Art Worlds: A Record of Process is a publication that traces the formative moments in people’s lives that allow them to bring their full selves to their practices—whether those practices are artistic,personal, professional, or a blending of all three. We invited a wide range of thinkers, makers, artists, administrators, and creatives, to reflect on the moments that have shaped them. While the pieces collected here are seemingly disparate and varied at times, they highlight the sense that we are all evolving beings that are never in a fixed state. We are all constantly straddling the position of who we were a moment ago and who we are becoming in the next. Throughout this publication, we encourage you to find connections between the pieces presented and the moments that have shaped you.
- Prologue by Emily Breidenbach
A digital version of this publication can be viewed here. Several submissions were actual objects (like paint scrapings, prints, dried plant cuttings, ashes, etc.) so those elements round out the publication. Two physical copies exist, one housed in the Museum of Contemporary Art's Library and Archives Collection, the other in the Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection at SAIC.
Left: Sarah Gray, "Aliens and Fish," Photographs, 2018. Center: Nick Levine Digital Scans, 2018. Right: Matt Bodett, "is: si ng," Performance, 2017.
I look for the art in everything, especially in the signage of stores
and other city businesses. I see the words on buildings as little poems
or reminders from the universe to keep going. When I first saw this
sign I envisioned that the letters "be" would appear before the word
"coming". It made me stop in my tracks and reminded me that I bring
my own meaning to the world around me. I get to determine who I
become - writer, artist, curator, it's all relative.
- Sara Radin
Left: Sara Radin, Photograph, 2018.
It might seem strange to discuss the ephemerality of artistic practices in the context of an archival publication, but the fleeting nature of this work is what makes it so critical. We only have a singular moment to make an impact, on others or ourselves—and though those moments are finite, it’s the collection of those moments that constitutes a practice, an art world. These collected moments are also how we learn and adapt for the future—whether personally or professionally. Small actions and reactions that may pass quickly, inevitably inform our future work and our future selves.
- Introduction to ephemeral section, Courtney Graham
Right: Courtney Graham, Found Polaroid, 2018.
Publication Credits Content: Kioto Aoki, Grace Backus, Carl Barrata, Hannah Bassewitz, Matt Bodett, Emily Breidenbach, Deb Dormondy, Katie Ernst, Sierrah Floyd, Courtney Graham, Sarah Gray, Nick Levine, Regina Mamou, Ashanti Marshall, Aleks Matic, Kelsey Dalton McClellan, Adelheid Mers, Naoki Nakatani, Sara Radin, Miriam Taghavi, Asha Iman Veal, Brooke Weisbrod, Larry Xie.
Curatorial Team: Grace Backus, Hannah Bassewitz, Emily Breidenbach, Sierrah Floyd, Sarah Gray, Nick Levine, Aleks Matic, Asha Iman Veal, Larry Xie.
Additional Thanks: Dorota Biczel, Jada Gomez-Lacayo, Lydia Gordon, Veronica Casado Hernandez, Christy LeMaster, Peggy Pierrot, Allison Prouty, Edra Soto, Adam Vida, J. Gibran Villalobos, Sadie Woods.