Entry Points The Vera List Center Field Guide on Art and Social Justice No. 1 This book is published on the occasion Distributed worldwide by Duke of the inaugural Vera List Center Prize University Press. for Art and Politics, awarded to Theaster Published by the Vera List Center. Gates. It is the first in a series of biennial publications that probe the relationship Vera List Center for Art and Politics between art and social justice, each one an The New School international survey of the most pertinent 66 West 12th Street, Room 604 examples in this emerging field at the time New York, NY 10011 of publication. www.veralistcenter.org © 2015 Vera List Center for Art and Duke University Press Politics, The New School 905 West Main Street Durham, NC 27701 All rights reserved. No part of this www.dukeupress.edu publication may be reproduced or otherwise transmitted in any form or The publication of this book is made by any means, electronic or otherwise, possible in part through the generous without the written permission of the support of Vera List Center Prize for Art publisher. and Politics Founding Supporters James- Keith Brown and Eric Diefenbach, Elizabeth Library of Congress Hilpman and Byron Tucker, Jane Lombard, Cataloging-in-Publication data Joshua Mack, and The New School. Entry Points. The Vera List Center Field Additional support has been provided by Guide on Art and Social Justice, No. 1 / Lambent Foundation and The Malka Fund. edited by Carin Kuoni and Chelsea Haines Pages cm Cover: Theaster Gates, Dorchester Includes bibliographical references and Projects, 2013, photo by James W. Toftness index. ISBN: 978-0-8223-6200-5 1. Art 2. Human rights 3. Social justice 4. Urbanism 5. Aesthetics I Vera List Center for Art and Politics II Entry Points. The Vera List Center Field Guide on Art and Social Justice, No. 1 III Kuoni, Carin IV Haines, Chelsea Copy editor: Stephen Hoban Editorial assistant: Zoe Carey Design: Project Projects Printed in Belgium by die Keure. Printed on Munken Lynx Rough 120 gsm. Typeset in Founders Grotesk, Genath, and Lacrima. Entry Points Edited by Carin Kuoni and Chelsea Haines The Vera List Center Field Guide on Art and Social Justice No. 1 Vera List Center for Art and Politics The New School The Field Essays 7 Introduction 14 That Incorrigible 98 Etcétera Carin Kuoni Disturber of the Peace Galit Eilat SHARON SLIWINSKI 106 Gugulective Kathryn Smith 23 On Dirt 112 Hans Haacke JOÃO RIBAS Chen Tamir 118 Sandi Hilal and 36 The Political in and of Art: THOMAS KEENAN Alessandro Petti Galit Eilat in conversation with CARIN KUONI 124 Interference Archive Gregory Sholette 130 Sanja Iveković Artists What, How & for Whom/WHW 48 Ai Weiwei Chen Tamir 136 Amar Kanwar Pooja Sood 54 Shahidul Alam Bisi Silva 142 Faustin Linyekula Shannon Jackson 60 Karen Andreassian Susanna Gyulamiryan 148 Mosireen Negar Azimi 66 Amy Balkin T.J. Demos 154 Marina Naprushkina Gregory Sholette 72 Bibliothèques Sans Frontières 160 Tenzing Rigdol Omar Berrada H.G. Masters 78 Giuseppe Campuzano 164 Issa Samb Ana Longoni Koyo Kouoh 86 Chto Delat 170 Christoph Schäfer What, How & for Whom/WHW CAMP 92 DABATEATR 176 Take to the Sea Omar Berrada Jenifer Evans Dorchester Projects Artist 186 Theaster Gates 253 Learning from Chicago: 276 Vera List Center Responses to Dorchester Prize for Art and Politics 207 Theaster Gates: Projects from The New A Way of Working School Faculty 278 Nominated Projects Installation Images 279 Vera List Center KATAYOUN CHAMANY JULIA FOULKES 280 Book Contributors Essays ANDREA GEYER 198 “ Some Kind of 284 Index RICHARD HARPER Work Simply Needs CARIN KUONI 288 Image Credits to Happen.”: THEASTER MARK LARRIMORE GATES in conversation LYDIA MATTHEWS with CARIN KUONI KEVIN McQUEEN JASMINE RAULT 214 Utopian Operating RADHIKA SUBRAMANIAM Systems: Theaster’s Way of Working 272 Theaster Gates: SHANNON JACKSON A Way of Reception CHELSEA HAINES and 230 Collecting Publics: JOCELYN EDENS The Spatial Politics of Dorchester Projects MABEL O. WILSON 240 Gauging the Racial Times in the Work of Theaster Gates ROMI N. CRAWFORD 246 Neither “Black Church” nor “White Cube” HORACE D. BALLARD, JR. 7 Entry Points: The Vera List Center Field Guide on Art and Social Justice, No. 1 Carin Kuoni Lately, as a matter of course, art and aesthetic in profound and visionary ways and is awarded for practices are called on in contemporary campaigns a particular project’s long-term impact, boldness, and to advance social justice. This book captures some of artistic excellence. Following an extensive research the most significant examples worldwide and intro- and evaluation process that enlisted a stellar jury duces an interested audience of artists, policy makers, as well as the exemplary Nominators Council of scholars, students, curators, and writers to new ways leading artists, art historians, and curators worldwide, of thinking about social justice: how it is represented, American artist Theaster Gates was named the defined, and practiced through the arts. It assembles inaugural recipient of the prize for Dorchester Projects and analyzes some of the latest scholarship at the in Chicago. The paradox of any award—that is, to intersection of art and social justice in order to investi- select the best among the best—is incorporated gate the underlying motivations and strategies that in this publication, where the winning project is seen constitute this increasingly robust discourse. as part of a diverse and international field of equally On the fault line between individual ethics and significant projects, the finalists to the prize. institutionalized protocols for justice, where many current political debates erupt, complicated terrains * * * appear that are often the site of provocative artist projects. These projects share with (social) justice that Part One, “The Field,” is testimony to this range of they correspond to continuously evolving systems of visions, providing a lively snapshot into the state of art values. The need for unceasing articulation renders and social justice on a global level with reflections on them infinitely demanding (to paraphrase philosopher key concepts and a survey of the field at large. Here, Simon Critchley) and elusive but also primarily visible twenty-two distinct projects are introduced—through in practice. Thus, in a number of ways this book marks photographic documentation chosen by the artists, the temporary nature of this discourse, acknowledg- their statements, as well as the voices of the curators, ing—even embracing—the fact that vocabularies are writers, and scholars who advocate for their projects not set, standards not established, and that the way we and who constituted the original Nominators Council learn, communicate, and teach this field is continu- for the prize. The flavor of a campaign, with its transla- ously evolving. Hence Entry Points is only the first in tion into a passionate language, is maintained in these a series of future biennial publications. Hence also contributions in order to keep the arguments open the frame of an almanac or chronicle, a gauge of what and flowing. What we arrive at is not a list of “the best is happening right now coupled with both the risk of of” but a curated, carefully considered map of artists speculation and the exuberance of original exploration. and projects suggested by a number of leading inter- Entry Points accompanies the biennial Vera national curators and art historians that identifies key List Center Prize for Art and Politics, launched at The moments in the growing field of art and social justice. New School to celebrate the twentieth anniversary The project pages are introduced by three of the center’s founding in 1992. The prize honors an keynote essays by leading thinkers, including literary artist who has taken risks to advance social justice theorist Thomas Keenan with a conversation on 8 notions of the political as they arise from the projects; consciousnesses, the Civil Rights Movements, curator João Ribas with an examination of ideas but ultimately probing how the African American around dirt as material and metaphor; and media and experience is enlivened by ongoing processes of legal scholar Sharon Sliwinski with a contribution on testimony. Entering that installation is like entering visual approaches to social justice. a haunted space. Part Two of the book offers an in-depth analysis of Dorchester Projects by Theaster Gates. Here, four * * * keynote essays look at Dorchester Projects from the distinct angles of performance art, urbanism, and Exceeding all expectations, this field guide has the history of race relations in the United States. become something of a movement itself with numer- Providing these perspectives, respectively, is scholar ous stakeholders contributing in various forms. The of rhetoric and performance studies Shannon Jackson; book features the works of twenty-three artists or Romi N. Crawford, a scholar of critical visual studies; art collectives in their own photographs and words. Horace D. Ballard, Jr., an art historian and American The editors commissioned twenty-six new texts from studies scholar; and architectural historian and curators, critics, artists, and scholars, challenging scholar of urbanism Mabel O. Wilson. An interview us to understand the stakes when we posit that art with Gates on Dorchester Projects is followed by advances social justice and lending a sense of urgency eight distinct takes by faculty members of The New and purposefulness to the reader. And the entire School who address the project through a variety of project was supported by extraordinary companions interdisciplinary perspectives, including curatorial along the way, whose trust has found expression on practice, design, urban policy, religious studies, music, these pages: there is the Nominators Council (listed economics, and biology, speaking to The New School’s individually on p. 277), professionals whose work comprehensive engagement with Gates’s work during at the forefront of politically engaged art—often the prize cycle of programs, which also included an happening far beyond the traditional confines of exhibition and conference. Written in response to a the art world—has shaped the work of the Vera List faculty trip to Dorchester Projects in Chicago in 2013, Center for many years. A particular note of thanks these contributions operate in a productive space is due to the resourceful jury for the inaugural prize: between academic discourse and personal reflection. my New School colleague, curator Lydia Matthews; Gates began Dorchester Projects in 2008 by artist Susan Meiselas; social justice advocate Dorothy transforming two buildings on Chicago’s South Side Q. Thomas; and especially our chair, Okwui Enwezor. into community gathering spaces with a library, slide The Prize Founding Supporters did as their name archive, performance space, and soul food kitchen. implies, lay the foundation for this most important The ongoing piece examines urban renewal and social initiative. They are James-Keith Brown and Eric justice through the lens of art, spirituality, alternative Diefenbach, Elizabeth R. Hilpman and Byron Tucker, economies, and community engagement. A bold Jane Lombard, and Joshua Mack. The New School American artist with a global vision, Gates and his has supported the prize initiative and the Vera List work expand the discourse of political enfranchise- Center for many years, currently under the leadership ment and social inclusion. Prize jury chair Okwui of the school’s Public Engagement executive dean Enwezor pointed out that: Mary Watson. Among our most essential supporters is the Vera List Center Advisory Committee, chaired Theaster Gates’s project of historical reclama- by James-Keith Brown. To him—and to them—my tion, interrogation of archival legacies, and social profound appreciation. I am also grateful to Norman construction of memory and cultural agency has Kleeblatt, a member of the committee, who facilitated it all tied together. Dorchester Projects layers the introduction to The Malka Fund. a meditation on the present African American For close to three years, I was fortunate to experience by connecting it to the haunted remains have curator and art historian Chelsea Haines on my of the past, making links with narratives of race side as we first developed the exhibition Theaster 9 Gates: A Way of Working, presented at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design in September 2013, and then conceived and orga- nized this publication. Chelsea’s dedication, astute perception, and insights have shaped every aspect of this extended project, and I am grateful to her for generously sharing her skills, including a healthy dose of patience and stamina. The various elements of the prize initiative—from initial conception to conference and engagement with various classes—also benefited greatly from Vera List Center program associate Johanna Taylor’s crucial support. An early discussion with the ad-hoc publication subcommittee—Lydia Matthews and Sina Najafi, augmented by Radhika Subramaniam—was additionally most helpful. I hasten to thank the following colleagues and friends: Tabor Banquer in the University Development and Alumni Relations Office; Emily Donnelly and Naomi Miller, currently and formerly at the Vera List Center; Jocelyn Edens; New School curators Silvia Rocciolo and Eric Stark; former New School for Public Engagement dean David Scobey; Radhika Subramaniam, director and chief curator of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center; curator Chen Tamir; Kate Hadley Toftness and La Keisha Leek at Rebuild Foundation; and Alexandra Small at Theaster Gates’s studio. The book design is testimony to Project Projects’s extraordinary talents, this time enjoyed in a lovely collaboration with Adam Michaels and Grace Robinson-Leo. The copy editor was again the adept Stephen Hoban; editorial assistant was Zoe Carey. I am grateful for another delightful collaboration with Duke University Press, spearheaded by senior editor and editorial department manager Courtney Berger. And thank you to a particular friend of heart and mind, John G. H. Oakes.