Joint Custody Project

LA Reception Thoughts by Shana

2008-07-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

[Paul + Brady + Britt + Shana]

Hello art-lovers! First off, let me say on behalf of Tad and all the rock stars at Found Gallery, thank you for your interest and support. We had an exuberant and engaged crowd at the opening, and I’m thrilled to say that, with one insignificant exception, the experiment was a resounding success. Tad and I were clear in our statement at the outset that we considered “Double Up/Double Down” as much if not more of a psychological exercise as a formal one. Our first pass at pairings was based on what interested us aesthetically but the partnerships we eventually engineered were informed by temperament and ego fortitude.

As anyone following the progress of the show no doubt noticed, along the way there were many, many contentious moments between partners. Some felt they were doing all the work and being toyed with, others felt intimidated; some just went nose the grindstone and did the work; only a few lived up to their claims to be “up for the challenge,” and “open-minded.” In the last few days of the studio time, we were nervous about not only the work but the threat of drama at the reception. Then this miraculous thing happened—nearly everyone pulled themselves together, took responsibility for their own actions, and made real art. Some is great, some is good, but each piece has (or had, you’ll see) something to recommend it and at least one viewer picking it as a favorite. Everyone got a valentine. And when partners met, everyone got along and some real life friendships even got forged. We got pretty tipsy just in case there was yelling, but it turned out to be a celebration. Except for this one thing, where one of the artists was feeling pouty and instead of a) seeing the strange ancient beauty and strained humanism of the finished piece or b) growing a set and talking to someone about it, had his hairy cow of a girlfriend blow it up with firecrackers inside the gallery when it was full of people. Very disrespectful to both himself and his partner (the young talent M.M.) as well as to the gallery and curators that had invited him to play. I got mad and had a little YouTube-ready meltdown where my inner New Yorker was in full effect. I’m not proud, but it was pretty funny. I mean what I said, not what they did. They were stupid. Jackass isn’t even a good show anymore!

So anyway!! The boys asked me to write up some of my favorite moments from the show and share them with you. We are having a BBQ on Sunday at the gallery as a sort of closing party, exegesis and curator’s tour (with just me it looks like since Tad’s out of town, but no worries) that I think they are planning on filming and posting later, so I’ll save some of the more formal/art criticism observations for Sunday and the video of it and for now just share some of my favorite surprises from last Saturday…

One example of something we thought might not go so well was that Britt Ehringer's partner Paul Pescador waited until very late in the process and suddenly shredded the canvas and sent Britt back a CD with pictures of its carcass, which frankly frustrated to the point where he decided to wreak revenge by making a whole new piece basically by himself, but based on earlier imagery they had been working with. Their piece, “Spam Alert” is a huge Cibachrome with hand-painted text all over it, a work which in no way resembles what his work normally looks like. It's fantastic, a real show-stopper in fact, to the point where the gallery expressed interest in working with him again, but it’s just a very different style and medium for him, and so we settled on a conceptual framework in which their process still amounted to a real, and successful, collaboration because Paul’s actions knocked Britt so far out of his comfort zone that he landed in territories of his own craft he hadn’t explored. I think Paul has a future as a curator and/or a conceptual artist.

Domenic Quagliozzi bolted his and Leora Lutz's canvases together face to face and we were sure she'd read this as hostile but then she got there and loved it, old school punk rock hottie that she is. Besides, she had taken it to the gun range and peppered it with shrapnel, so I think she respected his gesture. Ashley Tibbits was worried about how the last minute addition of mirrors as frame mounts to her collaboration with Michelle Liu would be installed, but adored (as did I) the hanging curtain installation the gallery came up with, proving that we were all here to help and really looking at the art. Milo Martin and Anne-Charlotte Tavolacci were the challenge winners for sure, keeping their cool and learning from each other and coming up with one of the most seamless dialogues and popular works in the group—though the real crowds gathered around Lisa Adams and Saul Gray Hildenbrand’s hand-operated fake television set/altar like they’d never seen such a marvel of technology before, and this from two painters!

There are many more great things at the show so try to catch it before it comes down this weekend, like Sunday for example, which should be good fun. Cheers! SND

JCP LA photos + more Berlin

2008-07-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

[Spam Alert by Paul Pescador + Britt Ehringer/Photo by Tito da Costa]

Hi everyone. We're delivering a bunch of photo links today.

First, as above, we have all of the photos of the finished pieces in LA. View the photos by Tito da Costa here.

Also, here are some photos of the reception from last Saturday evening.

View the other reception photos by Tito da Costa here.

Finally, we have some new photos from the Berlin reception on June 27. View them all here.

+++ Video + Updates + Future Projects coming soon +++

Pecha Kucha Presentation

2008-07-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the promised presentation from the Pecha Kucha Kreuzberg special. I haven't actually reviewed it myself, because, as a human being, I detest the sound of my voice and the quality of my content. The presentation's format, like the JCP itself, is defined by interesting restrictions. Presenters are asked to supply 20 images and may speak about each slide for 20 seconds only.

This saves bad presentations from going on forever and leads you to wanting to know more about subjects that were engaging. JCP artist Anna Krenz was one of the co-curators of the evening.

Click here to watch/listen.

LA Record + Reception + Brady's Head

2008-07-06T14:13:00.001-07:00

[Brady = neo-Noir]

Last night's opening of the JCP LA was a riot. It was all good fun, until one artist [or, rather, one artist's girlfriend] decided it was not only appropriate, but tolerable, to flip over part of the piece and light a firecracker in the gallery.

We have some video of the fallout, and Brady will tell the whole story real soon.

Speaking of Brady, LA Record just ran an interview with Brady and insisted on shooting a photo of him. Above is the photo. Here is the write-up, which is probably the clearest description of what's been going on + a little of the Orphanage ----> Found's backstory.

Happy 5th + Meet Your LA Artists

2008-07-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

The last 2 days, we've been installing at Found, forgoing some of the holiday weekend festivities to ensure the LA show will be a thought provoking one. So, here are your 24 LA artists.

[again, in no such particular order]

Joe Wall
Grace Oh
Lisa Adams
Amy Kaps
Marissa Underwood
Ashley Tibbits
Michelle Liu
Leora Lutz
Liz Acosta
Britt Ehringer
Renée Martin
Gretchen Rollins
Michael Hayden
Kim Bagwill [2nd time]
Milo Martin
Dominic Quagliozzi
AnnCharlotte Tavolacci
Saul Gray Hildenbrand
Paul Pescador
M.M.
Joe Merrell
Alexandra Wetzel

Joint Custody LA Opens Tomorrow

2008-07-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

After a month of apathy, anxiety, anticipation, and anthropomorphistic dabblings, we're pleased to announce that Joint Custody Project: Los Angeles opens tomorrow – July 5. Join us for the opening reception at Found Gallery from 6-9pm. After party at the Hyperion Tavern.

The last four weeks have brought us together, and pushed us apart. Some of the pieces have been reinvented from the ground up. The B Collaborators took this, their final pass, as an opportunity to make some extremely bold (if much belated) moves. To the A Collaborators who spent the last two weeks whining about how little their partner had been contributing – watch out. You might not recognize your piece. At all.

Out of the 11 pieces in the show, four of them hang from the ceiling. There were seven canvases at the beginning of June - only four remain – and only two of those four escaped the spectre of the knife, the needle, or the gun. We have nudity, sex, gambling, addiction, and yes – doubling. Doubling of all kinds. The heaviest piece is over 50 pounds. The lightest piece is less than 2 ounces.

22 artists – 11 pieces – 1 night. Will artistic differences trump social decency? If you come to one event at Found this summer – this better be it.

Berlin Reception

2008-07-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

We opened the Berlin version of the Joint Custody Project last Friday night. It was a wildly engaging and fun evening, replete with overlapping creative circles getting together for the first time and a general curiosity from the viewers and artists alike. See photos here.

MIDAS TOUCH from Mwebex Radio Fork on Vimeo
[thanks to DJ Nomad + Hunee for playing the reception]

Additionally, we organized a barbeque this past Tuesday with the artists and other folks involved with the success of the project. Here are a couple photos below.

More on the individual artists, their thoughts on the pieces, etc. over the next 2 weeks.

LA is installing as we speak. Opens Saturday.

Happy Siebenschlaefer + Meet Your Berlin Artists

2008-06-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Germans celebrate June 27th as their version of a summer Groundhog Day. Today, we also open the Joint Custody Project Berlin. We've decided to finally share the list of 24 excellent artists who have spent the last month toiling, sharing, and arting.

[in no such particular order]

Click on them for more treats
Nomad
Eve Hurford
Sweza
Jules Herrmann
Katja Sonnenwend
Paul Thomas
Sophia Domagala
Kerstin Wagener
Daniel Wang
Sandra Siewert
Klaus W. Eisenlohr
Rigobert Pupacher
Anton Unai
Despina Stokou
Mike Ruiz
Enrico Centonze
El Bocho
Gert-Jan Akerboom
Jessica Gellweiler
Klaas Hübner
Amanda Vietta
Anna Krenz
Kai von Rabenau
Uwe Behrens

JCP Berlin Vernissage // TOMORROW

2008-06-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

One of two moments you've been waiting for has finally arrived -- The Joint Custody Project: Berlin opens tomorrow (Friday, 27 June) at Raab Galerie. We spent today installing the pieces, which span from canvasses to multimedia presentations to a floor "carpet." Stay glued to the blog, as we will release the names of the artists a few hours before the reception begins.

(an official invitation to you + yours)

Join us at Raab Galerie [map] from 7-9pm for a night of surprises, introductions, and experimentation in West Berlin as we celebrate the opening of the month-long saga of the Joint Custody Project Berlin. The evening becomes a West-meets-East migration as the celebration continues late into the night at 103 Club [Kreuzberg - map], hosted by Discos Capablanca.

The Joint Custody Project landed in Berlin on the 1st of June. 24 artists from all mediums were selected by curators Jonny Coleman and Chris Cruse, and paired off into 12 teams. Each team was tasked to create a cohesive piece of art -- without exchanging a single word. All the artists were given the same theme -- "You Can Never Go Home Again" -- to think about as they developed their pieces.

Each artist worked, back and forth, on the piece over the last four weeks without any verbal communication or knowledge of his/her partner's identity. Many tears were shed; much joy was shared. These pieces are more than end-products -- they are stories.

Join us on Friday for the exciting conclusion of the pieces, as they are revealed at the Raab Galerie. As an added treat, this will be the first time the artists will have the opportunity to meet. Come have a drink with us, enjoy provocative art, and participate in what will no doubt be the most exciting night of this project. Then stay out late with us...

Los Angeles: Rounds 3, 4 + 5

2008-06-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

In the heat of Los Angeles, 22 artists are finally starting to understand what it means to share custody. Only two swaps to go before the opening on July 5, and things are getting real. We've got partners who are playing tricks on one another, partners who refuse to communicate, artists who don't want their name on their piece, artists who want all the credit, and artists who feel like they are pulling all the weight... One thing is certain, however – everyone is nervous/anxious to meet their mate.

Included below are random smatterings from the last three swaps. As usual, you can find more images from Round 3, Round 4 and Round 5 on our Flicker Stream.

In other news, I witnessed the US beat Barbados 8-0 right here in LA. Made for a boring game – but I did learn that the Barbadan flag features the Maserati logo. I smell some excellent product placement opportunities.

What up Berlin?

Berlin Round 5

2008-06-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

[photos by Tania Castellvi]

We are two days out from the final dropoff. Artworks have been changing dramatically, more and more with each round. In this particular round, 2 different artists withheld some major elements [in one case, the entire piece] and delivered brand new work, often to the dismay of their partners.

Again, the last dropoff is Wednesday, and the opening is this Friday. Click the image above to enlarge. Click here to view the whole set from the Found Flickrstream.

No soccer Monday Night --- Pecha Kucha

2008-06-22T15:18:00.001-07:00

I am presenting at Pecha Kucha tomorrow evening in Kreuzberg [for Germans, go here] about the Joint Custody Project. The short-form presentation format is active in several cities around the world. Each presenter works under the limitations of presenting 20 images which stay projected for 20 seconds, netting a 6 minute 40 second long discussion on a given subject. Like the JCP itself, the restrictive format is very interesting. I have never been to one of these, though they have taken place in LA at the Mountain Bar.

Also, I am extremely excited to hear from the Chessboxer.

--------

Infos:

Festaal Krezber / Skalitzer Straße 130 / Close to U-Bahnkof Kottbusser Tor

Start 20:20 h / Doors open 19:30 / Entry: Eur 5, -

And here is the list of speakers so far (subject to change):

Cäthe Pfläging (Amt für Gestaltung / about girls and motorbikes)
Jonny Coleman (Found Gallery / Joint Custody Project)
David Selden (writer / The Invisible Kiez)
Thomas Janze (Producer, director / The Science of Horror)
Christiane ten Hoevel (artist / Covers of books that still need to be written)
Nicky Szmala, Raul Krauthausen (SOZIALHELDEN / The Ring-S-Bahn as office, talkshow studio and gameshow environment)
Stefan Riekeles (Les Jardins des Pilotes / Moosismus - Topologie der Moose)
Dietmar Post (Regisseur / Entstehung des Films 'The Monks')
Tanja Dückers (Schriftstellerin / "Reise nach Transnistrien. Bericht aus einem Land, das es nicht gibt")
Frank Stoldt (Policeman, Chessboxer / about the Chessboxing Worldchampionship 2008)

Berlin: Round 4 on the FLOOR!!!

2008-06-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Raab Galerie had its opening Tuesday night (June 17) for Efraim Habermann -- so instead of burdening them with our chaos we had the artists pickup and dropoff at our place in Kreuzberg. Kinda turned into a party, but with awkward questions like "Wait, are you my partner?" Made bruschetta, ate cherries, and drank beer the whole sun-drenched day. Everyone's been working mad hard turning out the work, but thanks to everyone for kicking back a second and having a silly time with us.

The rest of the pictures from the swap are up on the Found Gallery Flickr stream.

Getting Etymological

2008-06-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger Sini Matikainen reflects on the origins of nostlagia and its place in Berlin, as our version of the project, 'You can never go home again,' forces the artists to confront their concepts of identity in relation to place. Above, the Trabant has become a symbolic East Berlin correlative for the GDR days.

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Can you ever go home again in Berlin?

The word “nostalgia” was born in 1688, created by a Swiss scholar to describe a condition afflicting homesick youngsters. The condition was characterized by “meditation only of the Fatherland” and “disturbed sleep.” The word itself is composed of two parts: nostos, Greek for “return to the native land,” and algos, the word for pain. This was more than traveler’s anxiety or sighing over a photo album: it was believed to be potentially fatal.

Today, “nostalgia” and homesickness are considered very different concepts: while homesickness is place-specific, nostalgia is “a longing for a lost time.” It may also include “a yearning for home, but it is a home faraway in time rather than space.” Homesickness can be cured, but nostalgia cannot – and the kind of home people are nostalgic about is seriously unattainable, existing only in the past and romanticized memory.

Berlin is especially suited for a project focusing on the unattainable past, since its own history has left its share of orphans and homeless. From the 1930s onwards, Berlin has had a long history of changing in such a way that some of its residents can never really go home again. From those forcibly and tragically expelled during the 30s and 40s to families divided by the wall in the 50s, Berlin created a number of homeless and heartbroken individuals who would never find the city again as they remembered it. Berlin itself, as a divided city within a divided country, had an uneasy place within Germany and the world as a whole.

Post Berlin Wall, the GDR still has its nostalgic fans. The Ostalgie movement of the 90s (another invented word, combining the German word for east with the word for nostalgia) reflected a generation still mourning some aspects of the GDR, as exemplified by the film Goodbye Lenin. The movie shows a young man desperately trying to recreate East Berlin, ostensibly to prevent his ill mother, who was in a coma while the wall fell, from dying of shock once she realizes what has happened. It quickly becomes clear, however, that he’s working equally for himself – because his memories of his mother are tied so closely with the GDR, he hopes that preserving the GDR means preserving her.

For generations of Berliners, memories of the GDR are still inextricably linked with those of childhood. The still-present GDR fascination – from widespread Communist kitsch for sale to tours in a tiny Trabant – allows tourists and Berliners alike to experience some of the authentic Ost Berlin experience. Some GDR-era foodstuffs have even been brought back due to popular demand.

Berlin, then, is an ideal location for meditating on the idea of home. How German artists view their GDR-era childhood homes? How do people newly moved to Berlin view the city – do they still long for their birthplace or hometown, or has the city that’s constantly changing become a new home? What kind of image will arise from the collaboration – universal underlying themes about the nature of home or a highly individualistic picture of what home means?

Berlin Round 3

2008-06-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Berliner artists are coming to our heimat on Tuesday to dropoff --- marking the end of the first two full back-and-forths (we are holding 3 total). The second act already has seen its share of drama, but it would be a shame to just dismiss it as merely drama.

Some of the artists have become very interested in complete transformation of the pieces. Some of the work exists outdoors. Some artists have kidnapped the pieces, forcing photo shoots in very curious locations.

I'll stop talking now (that's the point, right). Look at the pictures.

---(see them all here)

In other news, Turkey won against Czech Republic in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. The below video is what happens in Kreuzberg (where we're living) when Turkey wins:

Los Angeles: Round 1 + 2

2008-06-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

Things in Los Angeles have gotten off to a great start. Swap's 1 and 2 turned out some great work by a crew of wildly talented artists. Swap 3 is coming up tomorrow. Can't wait to see what is in store. Here is a small sampling of what the pairs have been putting together. We won't barrage your senses with too much imagery here – you can see it all on Flickr (round 1, round 2)

Berlin: Round 2 w/ the Bs

2008-06-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

There was much shock, excitement, and even a hint of joy as the A partners came to pick up what the B partners dropped off on Monday. A sampling of photos from this round below [rest of the set available on Found Gallery Flickr]

See you on June 13 at Raab. What up LA?

Berlin: A Partners Bring It

2008-06-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

An exciting first showing by the Berlin A-partners (excuse the vernacular, LA). We received a handful of canvas-based pieces and another handful of sculptural. Some were raw materials passed around -- there was even an electronic PDF explaining how to find the artist's pieces planted throughout the city. B-partners, mount up. Looking forward to seeing how you listen, and what you make.

These are a sampling of the pics (rest on Found Gallery's Flickr):

P.S. -- To continue with the undiscussed soccer motif that keeps popping up...Currently we are in a café while the Euro 2008 (soccer championship, for those in US) is broadcast on a projector. The opening ceremony involved a few snow queens [yes, that's what I mean], an inflated skiier slaloming through abstract white boxes, and thousands of people dressed in leotards half-red / half-white rolling around on the field -- ostensibly changing the color of the logo they are supposed to collectively resemble (soccerball with fire -- the Euro logo). A challenging collaboration for all, nonetheless. How do they know what to do? Thinking of you!!!

Tschuss!!!

Berlin project begins

2008-06-07T05:24:00.000-07:00

[image courtesy cottonijoe]

Our Berlin artists have recently begun working on the project, as of the 1st of June. We held a face-to-face meeting with the artists last weekend to go discuss all types of questions regarding the logistics and thematics of what is to take place this month. We will share some photos of the first dropoff very soon [and subsequent ones as well]. Artists have been working in a wild variety of formats [we've had everything from stretched canvas to Google Earth files to potato to .pdf as mediums coming from the A partner].

Eagerly awaiting Monday's dropoff from B partner - jonny

you can never go home again

2008-06-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Chris and I would like to take the time to share the thematic direction in which we are directing the Berlin version. Here below, we have a portion of what we co-wrote to the artists. We have already seen one piece come back, have a few tomorrow, and the remainder coming in early Thursday. We'll post some news as it becomes worthy. - Jonny

[ps - we may or may not publish the photo series we took of each other to create elements for the postcard. Part mugging, part Irene Kai, part smut. We'll see.]

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You can never go home again

The title of the show refers to an American cliché, which proposes that as we move through life our assertion of what is "home" invariably changes. Many of you are not native to Berlin, Germany, or Europe itself. Some of you may have been born and raised here. You represent a typically diverse population of a large metropolis. We are interested in the proximity or distance, both cultural and emotional, from what you consider home.

Your task is to reflect on what home means to you. Where do you come from, and where do you find yourself now? Discover how your partner expresses these reflections and incorporate them. Your piece should claim a unified idea of home, or the absence of home. How do you answer the questions, 'Where are you from' and 'What is your home?' As the process develops, you should try to recognize what you and your partner have in common as artists and as people.

Some initial ideas that popped into our heads as traditional forms of expressing a unified home included flags, banners, badges, coats of arms, and currency. More modern forms of expressing identity [for everyone, not just artists] include self-portrait photography, avatars, logos, icons, emoticons [:P, :>/, etc.]. Think about how you already use visual shorthand to present yourself and how your friends, family, and colleagues do too.

We encourage you to present yourselves using your own unique set of symbols, colors, materials, and styles. Feel free to reference recognizable symbols and their common associations, but please be creative and utilize your own iconography and/or reimagine common symbolism. Remember to communicate your ideas with your partner throughout the creative process -- without using words.

We encourage you to be confident not timid, bold but not antagonistic, thoughtful but not passive.

Joint Custody LA Kick-off

2008-06-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today, Sunday June 1, marks the official kick-off of the Los Angeles edition of the Joint Custody Project. Twenty-two artists will be collaborating over the next month, to the theme of Double-Up:Double-Down. Our 'A' collaborators got the ball rolling over the weekend – purchasing supplies, picking mediums, formats, etc. The first swap day is Wednesday, June 4 (check your calendar for drop-off, pick-up times) – we'll make sure to post select photos from the first round. Best of luck to our participants – we're excited to see what you come up with.

-Brady in LA

(image courtesy d-)

A Word From Shana and Tad

2008-06-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Art-making is fundamentally an expressive act, mainly undertaken in private if not solitude. Artists determine the viability of a work before revealing it to audiences, and are directly invested in its meaning, in the communication of their singular vision through their objects and images. Exhibition curating is on the whole more interpretive than creative, however there is also a dimension of self-expression, as curators are asked to apply their own original ideas in framing and selecting elements in the service of meaning. In both cases, collaboration is typically a choice, partners known and invited with deliberation, with communication lines wide open.

As everyone knows, the Joint Custody Project turns the creative process on its head, setting up blind collaborations between strangers intended to both challenge personal and aesthetic boundaries, to force a relinquishing of control over what matters most. To trust. What has been more unexpected is the degree to which our experience of curating the show parallels what we are putting the artists through. We had never met before agreeing to work together, an artist and a critic, but like the artists, we just took the chance.

A great deal of our work was done on line, via email relay. We chose not to impose any strict idea or precondition on our choices, to use intuition as a guide, trust that patterns and linkages would suggest themselves to us and that titles and themes could be articulated later, when things were clearer. We each went back to our studios and drew up initial lists and tentative pairs, and started shuffling our decks. We later explained ourselves, made compromises, played word games and all the rest, and the result, the lineup if you will, reflects each of us equally but is nothing either one of us would or could have done solo. We hope your collaborations go as smoothly.

Below we’ve pasted a few passages from our correspondence, salient comments and exchanges which we hope offer some insight into what went on during this process, in case anyone is curious about what we were thinking.

After the first round, we edited each other. Tad said this: “I do like a lot of your pairings...only a few cases where I know the people well that I sense disaster. Check out so-and-so’s website. I think it’s worth including and they would play well with others. From your groupings I really don’t like the works of this person and that one…”

That part was pretty smooth, our tastes proved different but compatible. One very interesting exchange came up when we were doing the matching. As a writer, SND at first was really excited about cross-pollinating mediums, photographers with painters, sculptors with performance artists, that kind of thing. But as an artist, Tad felt that pushing people way outside of their practices is presumptuous. “I would be pissed off if I was paired with someone way outside of my practice. Like what I am supposed to do with this wet painting or what am I supposed to do with this data DVD if I am a painter?”

Good point. So that being settled, we turned our attention to the theme and title for the show. We didn’t want to be too narrow or arbitrary with anything like portraits (unfair to abstractionists) or a restricted palette or some poem to respond to or etc. We started throwing words around like hybrid, twin, mirror, uncertainty, I Ching, Carl Jung, Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, duality, romance, fate… SND wrote: “We have been talking about duality as a formative principle of life as well as contemporary art in general, additionally highlighted by the specific, literal nature of this project. For my part I was very attracted to the esoteric implications, you know, all that Hindu and Buddhist stuff about what is real and what is an illusion, the connection between the mind and the body, abstraction and figuration being a perfect example of how these things manifest in art…”

Meanwhile, Tad, who in the beginning was all about ambiguity and open-endedness, started following the gallery’s original theme about children who grow up with two homes and multiple families after a divorce or the pushing of gambling and addiction to always go double or nothing.

But in the end SND managed to talk him out of that, perhaps in the process of judging her visceral reaction against that direction failing to thoroughly contemplate her resistance to it, but so what. No babies.

In the end we were thinking about Double or Nothing, but we realized that nothing was no longer an option, so we went with Double Up/Double Down. It has action, it references the binary authorship situation, it reminds you of the risk, the gamble as it were, but without such stark stakes or finality as Double or Nothing. We think it’s vague enough that no one will feel controlled but has enough specificity to generate a range of associations and spark a range of emotions and narrative threads in individual artists…

Oh and Tad hated the word partner. We changed Partner to Collaborator in the literature, just because..

-Shana & Tad

Images courtesy elliotcable and weddingcakes

Selecting, officially

2008-05-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Chris and I just arrived in Berlin and are working on getting everything finalized for the project. We've spent a lot of time traveling over the past week, which has afforded us a lot of little sessions where we can discuss, debate, and discover what the Berlin arm of the project will be and what it means to us.

We've quickly realized that although this project is defined by a lack of verbal communication, our roles as curators has involved over-verbalization. It's the only way necessary to explore all of the possibilities, the seemingly endless variations and possibilities the project could create.

However, we've put together a structure that hopefully curtails artistic cruelty and encourages active 'listening' and participation. More on that soon ----

Likewise, we just saw Shana and Tad's final list for LA. It's really, really exciting, to say the least.

For now, we'd like to share some a sampling of responses from the artists who have applied for Berlin.

How do you make a living?

+i am making art
+Heiress. Video reports for internet tv (interviews, camera work, editing). Deejay. Last year accountant for a film company, didn't like it.
+Painting murals...spinning records. Whorring.

Least favorite trend in art/design?

+super seriousness
+drawing with a normal pencil
+overworked digital images
+youtube
+Hip-Hop, Graffitti [sic], Francis Bacon, David Lynch, New York, Germany, Berlin
+performances where somebody is half naked or half dead
+anything that is needlessly messy

Describe your ideal collaborator

+My friend Ben recently visited me in Berlin and we constantly remixed Michael Jackson songs as we walked about the city.
+a mechanical robot that runs without electronic energy and my little son
+Someone who can finish my most surreal thoughts
+Anyone who can draw like a maniac - detailed and sharp lines and images
+Willing to experiment and dare, dep, personal, no ego, sometimes melancholic, rather process - than goal-oriented, able to be very focused, able to be silly, not hooked on one aesthetic style only, avoiding graffiti and pictures that look like children's drawings, interested in many different things, has an attention span greater than 1 minute (that goes for reading, watching films and listening to other people), easy to travel with, able to dance although he/she doesn't like the music, criticizes honestly and respectfully, if collaborating criticizes with alternative suggestions, likes to laugh, doesn't like gangster movies, likes chocolate

Describe a specific time when you enjoyed collaborating

+Yesterday evening, having sex with my wife

Introduction by Susan Buice

2008-05-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

Around the time when the idea for this collaboration was budding for me, filmmakers/mates Four Eyed Monsters were trying to distribute the filmed version of the story of their relationship, how they met through exchanging artwork before words.

Susan from Four Eyed Monsters just so happened to be in town last week. Chris met up with her latenight and they made this little video to help clarify a little of the how and why of the JCP. Thanks to Drew Brown and also to Coyote, for supplying the track 'Going Out.'

Joint Custody Project Introduction by Susan from Found Gallery on Vimeo. Shot on location at the lamps in front of LACMA

The Four Eyed Monsters is now available at Border's. [More]

meet our esteemed LA curators

2008-05-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce that Shana Nys Dambrot and Tad Beck will be the curators of the Los Angeles Joint Custody Project.

Before we hear from them, here is a little background about these two.

Shana

Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator and author based in Venice, CA. Her fine art & design reviews, features and interviews have appeared in scores of regional, national, international and online publications including Modern Painters, ArtReview, ARTnews, Whitehotmagazine.com, The Believer, Kotori Magazine, tema celeste, Angeleno, Art Asia Pacific, Intersection, Juxtapoz and Coagula Art Journal. She is currently the LA Managing Editor at Flavorpill.com and a Contributing Editor at its affiliate publication Artkrush.com as well as at Artweek and Art Ltd and the Galleries Editor at TimeOut LA, and she is the author of scores of special exhibition book and catalogs essays locally and internationally. A complete account of her published books and articles can be found at sndx.net and she blogs sporadically at uber.com/snd. She holds a BA in Art History from Vassar College.

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[Beefcake 4 by Tad Beck]

Tad Beck is a Los Angeles-based artist, working primarily in photography and video. He has studied at Cornell, SVA, and Art Center. Additionally, he is a full time intermedia professor at USC's Roski School of Fine Arts and has taught at Otis. Beck has had numerous solo shows throughout the country and has participated in scores of group exhibitions as well.

tadbeck.com

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As a team, these two curators have a breadth of knowledge on production, analysis, and distribution of visual art, and both have firm roots in the Southern California creative landscape.

They will be making their selections soon, and, although we cannot reveal their choices until much later, we will share some of their thought processes about the individual artists and overall direction in which they are steering this ship.

extended

2008-04-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

image courtesy: Dr. Keats

We've extended the Berlin application to be open through May 15. We won't be able to start making our final choices + pairings until after the 15th, so we thought to give interested parties a few extra days to get it done.

sister sister

2008-04-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

image courtesy: Etienne Rheindahlen

Applications continue to pour in for both cities. Get yours in to be considered for this opportunity.

Preview [JCP 2007]

2008-04-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

Artwork by Lawson Deming / Andy Ayala, JCP 2007

We've had a lot of questions as to what the project will be like. And, while we want to keep secret a lot of the twists and turns, we've re-released a few key posts from last year's blog to show what's possible. From the looks of the application pool, this year's cadre will be extremely talented.

If you are adventurous and talented yourself, don't miss the chance to collaborate with some really amazing artists. Apply here for both Los Angeles and Berlin.

How Can I Help?

2008-03-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

Glad you asked!

First of all, this project will not run without quality artists who are intrigued by the premise. Please, if you are in Los Angeles or Berlin during the month of June and are interested in the project, submit an application. If you know other artists of any sort who you think could contribute in a unique way, please encourage them to apply.

If you're a cool company and you'd like to sponsor a part of the project, we have some packages available. Please contact Chris if you are interested.

If you are in Berlin or Los Angeles during June and would like to assist with the physical coordination of the project, by all means we'd love to have you. Contact Jonny for that one.

Finally, if you have any ideas on how to enhance the collaborative nature of the project, please contact either of us.

New Blood

2008-03-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

As applications for the project have been rolling in, we wanted to make sure that everyone is clear on the format of the project, so here are the nitty-gritty guidelines [for both LA & Berlin].

Artists will be paired by the curators in partnerships of two
Each artist will be responsible for the piece in 4-5 day increments
At no point should an artist try to verbally contact his/her partner
Each artist is expected to exchange work on time
Limitations on media and scale or artwork will be determined by the curators at a later date
Found representatives will be chronicling the progress of each piece
If you have problems playing well with others, we respect that. Just please don't apply for this project. We want this to be a positive experience for all involved.
For fairness' sake, finished work will be sold at a set price point for all of the pieces [1/3 goes to the gallery, 1/3 to artist #1, 1/3 to artist #2] to be determined by Found
Adventurous creativity is a must

As this is a unique process, there will likely be many more questions, so please don't hesitate to post them as comments. We will publicly answer them as best we can.

Final list of JCP 2007 artists & pairings

2007-05-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the definitive list of the JCP 2007 pairings, with links where applicable.

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Poughkeepsie Wow & Matt Eyeda (www.eyeda.com)
Daniel Gaines & Rebecca Tierney
Chris Cruse & Ryan Riss (www.craptical.com)
Chris Hagerthy & Matt Groller (www.mattgroller.com)
Brad Powell & Lara Boudreaux
Leah Demo & Francoise Studer
Nathan Kanne & Andrea Flores
Ryan Piers Williams (www.ryanpierswilliams.com)& Shae Barney
Andy Ayala & Lawson Deming
Marcy Kelly & Larkin Clark
Ayse Art & Steve Jester
Evan Peele (www.gachart.com) & Kristyn Dors (www.kristyndors.com)
Lyla Rose & Airom Bleicher (www.paintedheart.com)
Katie Jenkins & Seana Carroll
Kim Bagwill (www.kimbagwill.blogspot.com) & Alex Schaefer (www.alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com)
Jonny Coleman (noperformance.com/blog)& Jonathan Zalben (www.jonathanzalben.com)
Laura Castellanos & Scott Ortner (www.breakfreedesigns.com)
Heather Chavez (www.heatherchavez.blogspot.com) & Elizabeth Hoffman
Alena Groopman & Jason Pinsker
Tim McMullan & Supan Bindra
Ryan Mitchell & Katie Ryan
DJ Grossi & Lizzie Tilles
Maximilian Buschman (www.maxbart.net) & Sowaila Zada
Kim Culotta (tkimmie.blogspot.com) & Jeff McMillan (www.jeffmcmillan.com)

ps---details coming soon about our next collaborative effort

A few photos of the finished products

2007-03-03T15:57:00.000-08:00

Here are a few decent photos. I will have more up soon.

Photos from Mike Hedge

2007-02-28T23:52:00.000-08:00

Photos of the evening from Mike Hedge, the tireless/indefatigable shutterbug friend of FEM West Coast ally. We need more guys like Mr. Hedge to document our memories. myspace.com/mikehedge

Photos from the Reception

2007-02-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

Here's what I took---I was kind of occupied trying to make those introductions to artists and diffuse unstable baby personalities. If you'd like to share any, please email to me (jonny@foundla.com) or post as comment. Thanks.

installation

2007-02-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

we're almost done with installing everything. and by almost done, i mean there's still a lot of work to do. and by a lot of work, i mean we'll probably be here to late. it's fairly overwhelming so far. i hope you enjoy it.

Works in Progress

2007-01-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

Photos from last week of work after three 4 day blocks. In no order.