Tuesday, March 24, 2009


Elsewhere Artist Collaborative



WOW - this gem was brought to me by my BF listserve - artinfobank - so brilliant - residencies in a former thriftstore that was never cleaned out - a shangrila of stuff to make art with - and they like to take 'colloboratives' as residents - wow can you imagine if we all went? Junk has been an important part of the development in my personal art practice, it would be interesting to share perspectives with those of you that are not so stuff oriented xo Karen

Residencies at Elsewhere

Elsewhere’s dynamic architectures and the immense 58-year collection of American cultural objects (thousands of toys, books, periodicals, clothing, fabric, games, trinkets, bric-a-brac, furniture, antiques, army surplus, and historical documents) housed on-site serve as a resource for the cultivation of new creative processes and the creation of new works.

Elsewhere’s residency program invites emerging and established artists and scholars to create site-specific works using the plethora of objects and dynamic spaces as materials for works or as a foundation for conceptual or technological projects. Residents launch projects from within the theoretical framework of an evolving exhibition of objects and artworks across media, composing an experimental museum rethinking the premise of the collector and collection, questions of history and myth, the stasis of the art object, the role of the artist, and the relationship of process within production.

Elsewhere offers a dynamic alternative to the museum and gallery spaces and traditional residency formats. Artists find Elsewhere residencies to be intensive, conceptually challenging, and highly playful. Working within transforming installations, artists engage interactive environments as platforms for conceptualizing their practices. An Elsewhere residency becomes an ongoing artistic happening formed by an evolving dialogue that explores responsive artistic practices as a means of communication within an artist community. While artists are given control over their individual work for the time of their stay, artists collaboratively build upon others’ visions in response to the developing installation. The opportunity to build alongside, work with, or even transform past artists’ work yields layered histories of experimentation, communication, and art production that resituates the creative possibilities for the museum-as-medium.

While all work produced with Elsewhere’s objects stays within the space (works in reproducible media are shared with Elsewhere and curated within the environment), artists have the opportunity to expand and apply their body of work on an unprecedented scope and scale while furthering the development of a collaboratively built museum. Elsewhere’s collaborative framework cultivates continued feedback and response throughout the creative process from the directors and other artists. Interns and production staff assist artists with documentation, creation and curation.

Residents are encouraged to spend one month creating in the space. No proposals are requested. Instead, we ask artists to draw their ideas from the space itself, its resources, and the multiplicity of systematic arrangements and performative organizations that interweave resource, artwork, and collaborative artistic response.

Residents pay a $200 residency fee and $50 deposit to hold space upon acceptance of invitation. Residents are required to fund their own travel, although Elsewhere, as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, can assist artists with granting opportunities. Collaborative or collective groups are encouraged to apply. Shorter residencies and student-residencies are available.

The application requires a written portion including a written application, resume/CV, digital work samples, and a phone interview.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

DCAC turns 20!



Monday, January 12, 2009

DCAC’s SPARKPLUG Announcement

In the past year the District of Columbia Arts Center’s exploration of what being in collective means for visual artists a group of ten individuals set themselves apart through their commitment to DCAC’s Sparkplug through their sustained participation in meetings and their willingness and abilities to step into leadership roles. These individuals have demonstrated serious professionalism and a passionate belief that pursuit of collaborative discussion makes each of them better artists and curators. The decision to limit our numbers at this point in the development of DCAC’s Sparkplug has been a hard one and we wish to thank all of you that have participated in the past year by posting your comments and coming to meetings and events.

With the number of participants limited to ten to fifteen people we will be developing and announcing an application process for future spots. We will continue to use this list for special announcements regarding DCAC Sparkplug events, exhibitions and future openings in the DCAC Sparkplug roster. If you are no longer interested in remaining a member of this email list you can email me at karenjoan@gmail.com with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line or use the unsubscribe link that is at the bottom of this message.

All The Best To You In 2009,

DCAC’s Sparkplug


DCAC does a lot with a little. Resources for individual artists can be hard to come by, something I am sure that those of you that expressed interest in DCAC’s Sparkplug know well. Keep in mind, the District of Columbia Arts Center has so many other opportunities for independent artists and curators looking for a forum for their work

Proposals for use of the gallery are accepted on a rolling basis – more information on how to put together a proposal here: http://www.dcartscenter.org/submit_gallery.htm

Curatorial Initiative - a curatorial apprentice program. Applications happen each November – more information here: http://www.dcartscenter.org/submit_gallery_VAI.htm

Volunteering (a great way to meet artists and people who buy art): http://www.dcartscenter.org/support_internships.htm

We know that many of you are members already, but if you are not, I encourage you to become one as soon as possible. If you are a member – why not ask your friends to join too? http://www.dcartscenter.org/membership.htm

We hope you will continue to be involved with the District of Columbia Arts center as it gets ready to start its 20th year of helping artists be artists.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

About entropy.

What I am really interested in, and what I am so powerfully impacted by as a theme that unites Sparkplug members’ work, is not the phenomenon of entropy itself, but the fight against/resistance to/defiance of entropy and stasis that drives the art making process, and – more broadly – is a causal agent in dreaming up and enacting any kind of change to one’s environment. The contra-entropic impulse, if you will. One dictionary definition of entropy is “the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity” – i.e. the chaos and degradation all organisms and systems tend towards when no additional attention or oppositional energy is directed their way. But even artworks that appear at first to brim over with unbridled, noisy, surplus or even accidental energy and information (that is, lots of entropy!) have definite and deliberate organizing principles and patterns. These stratagems and motifs were put into play during their creation, and continue to evolve through viewers’ deepening engagements with the work over time.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

DCAC’s Sparkplug in New York City, Tuesday, Sept 16.

DCAC’s Sparkplug in New York City, Tuesday, Sept 16.

IT’S STILL. IT MOVES. II

E32 = VIDEO PHOTOGAPHY PAINTING MIXED MEDIA PERFORMANCE DOCUMENTATION DRAWING

Every 3rd Tuesday of the Month in New York City E32 is a video/discussion series that takes place at the 5C Cultural Center in New York City. E32 is pleased to announce DCAC’s Sparkplug is included in the upcoming video/discussion series titled:

IT’S STILL. IT MOVES. II
Tuesday September 16th, 2008
7:30 – 10:00 pm
5C Cultural Lounge
68 Avenue C at 5th Street
New York, New York

The show includes work by members of the DCAC’s Sparkplug including slides of work by: Kathryn McDonnell, Karen Joan Topping, Michael Matason, Lisa McCarty, Jenny Walton, Mark Planisek, Deborah Carroll-Anzinger, Peter Gordon, with Lea Ann Bigelow, curator.

More about E32 at http://e32.hitart.com/.

Monday, September 8, 2008

I got excited and wanted to show you the preview that Linda Griggs has been working on! Great Job everyone - especially Kathryn & Lisa !!!!! More on this Soon!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Sept 14 - Meeting - Read carefully!

Hello Everyone – I am going to try to nip any confusion about the “PROPOSED MEETING” in the bud right now. It is happening – but read the below closely – it’s a little unorthodox.

While I was away at school this Summer in Philly there were committees and individuals that have been working on DCAC’s Sparkplug for the past year working. I am meeting with them first at the DCAC Gallery on September 14 from 7-8 PM to get their reports about our slide debut in the East Village, NYC, a Sparkplug proposal for a locally themed show of local artists and how to make membership clearer, fairer and help DCAC. Only people that were working on these projects should come to the DCAC Gallery at 7 PM.

We then wanted to have an open forum after that from 8-9 PM (or until it ends) for everyone that had been attending meetings sporadically for the past year and anyone new that might be lurking since we made our blog public (http://dcacsparkplug.blogspot.com/ ). We are all missing the easier going atmosphere we started off with and understand that we all need to get to know each other better if we are going to work together.

PROBLEM is that there is something in the DCAC theater that nite too – so it will not be a great idea for us to have a group larger than 10 or so people in the gallery on the 14th so as not to disturb the patrons in the theater.

THEREFORE, in order to solve this problem as soon as possible, I propose that at 8 PM we will all head over to the bar & pool hall, Bedrock Billiards, located in the Lower level of 1841 Columbia Rd NW. Some of you may recall this is where we first gathered a huge-ish group of people in 2007 to talk about why what they thought being involved in a collective could mean.

I encourage everyone that may be interested to see how we have handled our first year to come on by Sunday night, September 14 as we approach our “Terrible Two’s”. Feel free to email me directly at karenjoan@gmail.com with questions.

What is DCAC's Sparkplug?

Currently composed of eight DC area artists and curators, DCAC's SPARKPLUG meets regularly to discuss their work, explore common concerns, grow their community and dream up creative engagements both in DC and around the world. Through its support of Sparkplug, DC Arts Center provides meeting space, legal and technical resources and exhibition opportunities to emerging artists, curators and arts writers without current gallery representation or institutional employ. Via a continuing dialogue encompassing the theoretical and the practical, the group’s members share experiences, perspectives, preoccupations, challenges, and topics informing their ongoing artistic practice.



The goal of DCAC's SPARKPLUG is to identify superior artists, curators and arts writers without current gallery representation or institutional employ, provide an environment to help foster their development, provide legal, technical and other resources, and provide opportunities for them to exhibit both in DC and around the country.



DCAC's SPARKPLUG will actively seek its membership from all communities in the Washington, DC region with the goal of bringing together emerging artists and curators with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, a diversity of professional preoccupations and creative visions.