Tricia Khutoretsky (Session Host)
Chaka Mkali
Complex Movements
Rosten Woo
While the commercial art market in America is riding an incomparable high, an alternative art world is growing just as substantially. Artists and organizers working in this alternative cultural realm are increasingly making a case that social practices not only activate communities, but should be valued along with paintings, sculpture and other more tangible works. However, when it comes to art practice that is socially engaged, there exists a notion that aesthetics are not a significant priority. This session begins with the assumption that aesthetic and social provocations are happening together. We’ll look toward a deeper understanding of what is fueling new shifts and trends in art as a vehicle for social change today. How can artists and arts organizers think about the ways in which they create, share, and categorize their work in response to a changing landscape for art and social practice? Panelists will illustrate and explore the emergence of new hybrid identities for artists, arts organizers, and organizations as a result of interactions between audiences, social systems, and artists. The session will circle around topics of collaboration, aesthetics, and social context in relation to this field, but also to this unique, present moment in history.