Surplus, Beyond the Gallery, curated by Shelby Graham, in conjunction with UCIRA, Sesnon Art Gallery, & The Rittenhouse Building, Santa Cruz, CA. 2012
Surplus
2012
Clothing.
Size: 90 sq.ft.
Beyond the Gallery: Artists as Collaborative Agents for Community Change University of California Institute for Research in the Arts
Beyond the Gallery: Artists as Collaborative Agents for Community Change was an interdisciplinary course that created opportunities for critical thinking about art in communities. Collaborating not only with each other, but with the greater Santa Cruz community, UCSC students created and shared their projects in non-traditional settings such as vacant storefronts, courtyards, and other transitional venues. An innovative video and website of the work in these transitional spaces will accompany the project and make their work available to viewers beyond the downtown spaces.
Thanks to the UCIRA, Shelby Graham, Mark Shunney, and the Rittenhouse family, I was able to inject contemporary art with social practice concerns into the downtown/retail district of Santa Cruz, California. I replaced an empty storefront with a visually striking commentary by installing 90 sq.ft. of surplus clothing into a 9ft by 10ft window at the Rittenhouse Building, the clothes are packed in tight and pushed up against the window. I acquired the surplus clothing from GoodWill, and from the faculty, staff, and student community at UC Santa Cruz, I also purchased it from clothing wholesalers and from my local thrift stores, and donated some clothes of my own. In this way, I was able to participate in several stages of the clothing cycle. When clothing is donated, the donator is granted a tax right off, that clothing then gets sold for profit. The clothing that does not sell at the thrift store gets sold to wholesalers for pennies on the pound, who in turn ship it abroad. The worst surplus goes to Africa A and Africa B, where the clothing is sold in bundles to community retailers. In Africa, retailers sell American surplus for more than what it is was priced at our local thrift stores, effectively undercutting their own textile industry, undermining their culture and psyche. This is one of the many concepts that inspired Surplus.
Eventually, the materials that make up Surplus will be donated to several youth outreach and advocacy programs in the bay area. I am in the process of creating proposals to possible venues in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Tijuana.
corner of Commerce st and Church st.
video:
vimeo.com/44080044
Filmed and Edited by Miguel Libarnes
.
2012
Clothing.
Size: 90 sq.ft.
Beyond the Gallery: Artists as Collaborative Agents for Community Change University of California Institute for Research in the Arts
Beyond the Gallery: Artists as Collaborative Agents for Community Change was an interdisciplinary course that created opportunities for critical thinking about art in communities. Collaborating not only with each other, but with the greater Santa Cruz community, UCSC students created and shared their projects in non-traditional settings such as vacant storefronts, courtyards, and other transitional venues. An innovative video and website of the work in these transitional spaces will accompany the project and make their work available to viewers beyond the downtown spaces.
Thanks to the UCIRA, Shelby Graham, Mark Shunney, and the Rittenhouse family, I was able to inject contemporary art with social practice concerns into the downtown/retail district of Santa Cruz, California. I replaced an empty storefront with a visually striking commentary by installing 90 sq.ft. of surplus clothing into a 9ft by 10ft window at the Rittenhouse Building, the clothes are packed in tight and pushed up against the window. I acquired the surplus clothing from GoodWill, and from the faculty, staff, and student community at UC Santa Cruz, I also purchased it from clothing wholesalers and from my local thrift stores, and donated some clothes of my own. In this way, I was able to participate in several stages of the clothing cycle. When clothing is donated, the donator is granted a tax right off, that clothing then gets sold for profit. The clothing that does not sell at the thrift store gets sold to wholesalers for pennies on the pound, who in turn ship it abroad. The worst surplus goes to Africa A and Africa B, where the clothing is sold in bundles to community retailers. In Africa, retailers sell American surplus for more than what it is was priced at our local thrift stores, effectively undercutting their own textile industry, undermining their culture and psyche. This is one of the many concepts that inspired Surplus.
Eventually, the materials that make up Surplus will be donated to several youth outreach and advocacy programs in the bay area. I am in the process of creating proposals to possible venues in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Tijuana.
corner of Commerce st and Church st.
video:
vimeo.com/44080044
Filmed and Edited by Miguel Libarnes
.