Studios > Objects of Desire
Objects of DesireFor the inaugural residency with the lab, a collaborative, thematic residency at Gallery Aferro, curator and artist Nancy Mahl will be working with Carrie Lincourt, Kasha Minenko and others to explore "Devices of Pleasure."
We aim to build and display interactive electromechanical objects that enhance the audience's pursuit of aesthetic delight. We are interested in an embrace of hedonism in art--a contemporary reflection of an ethos manifested the 60's and 70's in work by filmmakers and performers Jack Smith, the Cockettes, and Kenneth Anger, among others. Rather than limit ourselves to film, we wish to make a variety of objects -- some of which will integrate projected imagery, and some of which will create an aural, visceral, and or olfactory experience of pleasure in public space. One of the motivations of the project is an avoidance of the solitary onanistic pleasure that is associated with the viewing and collecting of art. We would like to create an installation where pleasure is shared, and the viewer's joy makes her/him feel a part of something larger.
We envision an installation that creates, at least temporarily, a community of pleasure rather than of purpose or identity. Our vision is not specifically erotic (as erotic tastes are too specific to be universally shared), though inspiring a polymorphously perverse pleasure through texture, sound, motion or scent is certainly to be hoped for. We wish to cultivate an infant's delight in the novel more than the furtive pleasure of the dirty bookstore's customer (though we don't discount the value of furtive pleasure.) We also envision creating delight that is not anticipated or sought by the audience. A pleasure unrelated to whatever desires the audience arrives with--a pleasure that we give, rather that one that is expected.
Our varied skill sets and backgrounds (sound installation artist, video artist, machinist, visual artist, mechanic) will allow us to collaboratively explore our ideas and create this installation. That the four of us have very different ideas of what constitutes pleasure, and that we think in a variety of native languages, we also see as a boon, and a factor that may make our work especially relevant and legible to Aferro's diverse audience. We envision using a studio space as a workshop for design and fabrication, a meeting space for brainstorming, a studio for shooting images, and an important place to meet and interact with other artists. We also embrace the idea of a shared space for a specific project as an alternative to working in solitude and an opportunity to challenge and inspire each other. We are taking the model of an architectural studio for inspiration and look forward to working together en charette to create our devices.
