Looking back on Subprime
October 23, 2008
Subprime at Around the Coyote Fall Arts Festival
October 17-19, 2008
The Around the Coyote Fall Arts Festival is a delightful event. One may take the weekend with family or friends with the hope of skimming through a selection of local cultural producers; perhaps purchasing a pretty picture from one of the many charming artists who sit beside their work, warmly greeting passerbys. Wandering through the many rows of booths in the festival at Plumbers Hall this year, more than a few spectators happened upon the Green Lantern booth, with expressions that read, “What the fuck?” The ‘what the fuck’ expressions ran the gamut of potential applications for the phrase, and also spanned the spectrum of potentially implied feelings, from bewilderment, aggravation, to sheer joy.
“Subprime,” is the busking installation with a rotating schedule of artists, that we set up in the Green Lantern booth. It was initially inspired by Lily, Sarah, and Marvin, the then- members of “Subprime Mortgage,” who took to busking on the streets for the fun of playing for an audience, more than anything else. For “Subprime,” the artists who took part were promised a video monitor or two, a bucket for tips, and a mobile stage/painting, which would serve as the platform for the artists’ performances and exhibitions.
Once the stage was set, it was all up to the artists to arrive and do their thing; and all of the artists did in fact arrive, more or less, at their scheduled times, and everyone did their thing marvelously. Greg Cook exhibited his monument to humanity’s sordid erection. I showed a video about the connection between the painting/stage, my dad, and Sally Struthers. Marco Kane Braunschweiler & Martine Syms showed a video of empty Chicago landmark interiors. Rodney Lee conducted his percussive soul transfusion. Subprime Mortgage collaborated with David Diarrhea, who was inducted into the group through the course of their performance. Amanda Browder exhibited her rainbow vomitting gorilla. Paul Cary crooned amid the hustle and bustle. Tessa Siddle premiered her powerful performance involving surveillance cameras and 6 chickens. Toby Bengelsdorf read penetrating remarks. The Dead Gods brought their own P.A. and very loudly rocked the fuck out! Todd Mattei showed a contemplative video about football and words. And Ventrilla Kiss closed out the festival with a divalicious drag performance.
Central to the praxis of “Subprime” is the action of artists (and artworks) busking for gratuity(ies) from the audience. There was certainly a rotating audience (especially after our installation was moved from the original booth to the front entrance of the festival, after causing a ruckus and too many traffic jams), and a few people made their way to “Subprime” numerous times, for different performances/displays. Each performance/display beckoned spectatorship by the virtues of each artist’s practice. Cumulatively, over the course of the festival, we made a little more than $10 and a cherry tomato.
It happened; we pulled it off; it was beautiful.
Greg Cook’s monument kicked off the event.
The two monitors are playing videos by Young Joon Kwak, and Martine Syms & Marco Kane Braunschweiler.
Rodney Lee Jones took the stage shortly thereafter.
tragic foreshadowing.
Subprime Mortgage
Lily and Marvin
The song called for bangin’ of heads.
Paul Cary
Tessa Siddle
The Dead Gods are setting up, as Toby Bengelsdorf gets ready to read.
Dead Gods
Ventrilla Kiss puttin’ on her makeups.
Goodbye.
much thanks to Around the Coyote and my homegirl, Allison Stites.
-Young Joon
October 24, 2008 at 9:26 am
I don’t think “beautiful” is the right word! I really think you lost a lot of credibility that weekend. And not just from the older crowd. It was amateurish, to say the least. If your gallery is more sophisticated (I sure hope so) this most definitely did not convey that. It was the bruise on the apple. And anyone who witnessed the “rock out” by the Dead Gods noticed how half the people left because of it. I saw a woman covering her newborn baby’s ears trying to get out as fast as she could. Way to go! I was sure you would have immediately posted a public apology to ATC and Allison. But you seem proud of this. Wow.
October 24, 2008 at 11:27 am
Hey Jen-
It’s great to hear your feedback. It’s important that we explore these instances–interfaces of the public, of expectation, venue and enthusiasm. To my mind your critique encompasses the tension and clash of these issues. Inherent in those issues is an expectation, or understanding, of the function of ATC. Perhaps it is here that we went wrong.
These issues, however, are more intricate than one subjective judgement. For that reason, I think they are also incredibly interesting. How we have communicated and continue to communicate (and thank) the folks at ATC is our business. The more public issue, however, abstracted and examined are insightful.
For instance: What is the expectation of audience that goes to a fair? What is the relationship between artists at a booth and proprietors and, even, neighboring booths? Is there an obligation that one has to the other? What is the structure of communication within that system? What is the function of energy in such spaces? Or, more generally, what does disruption mean? What is art?
On the one hand there was an incredible and vibrant energy with the Subprime project, an energy that perhaps carried itself away–it disrupted the mold and tone of the festival. Historically, this has been a significant functions of art. On the other, art must be tied to the community that it serves. Inherent in this dual purpose is a tension, that, if developed fully can reveal marvelous truths. That isn’t to say Subprime was developed to such an extent. In its inception, it embraced a disorder. Here, i think you may raise a good point of critique. However, that critique is up to the artist(s) to consider and mull over for future endeavors.
Around the Coyote was incredibly gracious and patient, that is certain.
We are currently talking about this at length, with ourselves and with Around the Coyote, in order to figure out what went on. Of course, and as always, we’ll keep you posted.
Thanks for reading our blog-
best,
Caroline