Social Practice in Questions… Collective Situations: Readings in Contemporary Latin American Art 1995-2010

18th Street Arts Center is pleased to present Social Practice in Questions…a speaker series and publication surrounding inquiries into the nature and promise of Social Practice. These events act as a culmination of independent curator, theorist and educator Bill Kelley Jr.’s yearlong curatorial residency at 18th Street and bring together 6 exceptional thinkers in the field.

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The first inquiry:

Social Practice in Questions…: A publication

Manifested as a text-based query posed by Bill Kelley Jr. to invited guest speakers María Fernanda Cartagena, Caleb Duarte, Grant Kester, Suzanne Lacy, and Stephen Wright, the publication Social Practice in Questions… initiates our conversation and is available ongoing throughout our events.

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The second inquiry:

Inversions, Insertions, Implications: A conversation with theorist Stephen Wright

Tue. April 9, 7-9 pm

Theorist Stephen Wright lectures on issues of how art is used  – its use value, or its “usology”. Trying to reposition art away from formats that impede its growth, Wright proposes an “escape” from constrictive paradigms. His lecture will reframe art’s usology within an “epistemology of the south” with primary focus on work from Argentina and the community driven practices that emerged out of the financial crisis of 2001. Followed by open conversation.

Hosted by the 18th Street Arts Center in cooperation with Otis College of Art and Design MFA program in Public Practice.

Otis 18th Street Studio | 1657 18th Street – Santa Monica, CA 90404

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The third inquiry:

Collective Situations: Readings in Contemporary Latin American Art 1995-2010

Sat. May 4, 12–4 pm

With María Fernanda Cartagena, independent researcher based in Quito, Ecuador and member of the Red de Conceptualismos del Sur; Caleb Duarte, Co-founder of EDELO (en donde era la ONU / where the UN used to be), an experimental artist space in Chiapas, Mexico; Grant Kester, Professor of Art History and Director of the University Art Gallery at University of California, San Diego; and Suzanne Lacy, artist and Chair of Otis MFA Public Practice.

Suzanne Lacy will discuss her collaboration on La Piel de la Memoria (The Skin of Memory) with youth and human rights groups in Medellin, Colombia in 1999 and again in 2011. Caleb Duarte will speak about his work with EDELO, a residency space that brings together various cultural actors in Chiapas, Mexico. María Fernanda Cartagena will present the work of Pablo Sanaguano, an artist working with indigenous communities in remote regions of Ecuador, and will position his work within the traditions of Liberation Theology. This conversation is a precursor to the launch of Collective Situations: Readings in Contemporary Latin American Art 1995-2010, an anthology co edited by Bill Kelley Jr. and Grant Kester. Theorist Grant Kester will provide a short overview of the book and its intentions, followed by a public discussion.

Space is limited. Please RSVP to rsvp@18thstreet.org

Hosted by the 18th Street Arts Center in cooperation with Otis College of Art and Design MFA program in Public Practice.

Otis 18th Street Studio | 1657 18th Street – Santa Monica, CA 90404

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Collective Situations Reception

Sat. May 4, 5–8 pm

The Collective Situation panelists will join the Otis MFA Public Practice program at the exhibition for the 2013 Degree Projects “Practicing Public” at For Your Art.

For Your Art | 6020 Wilshire Blvd – Los Angeles, CA 90036