Open Field Artists-in-Residence
July 20 – September 4, 2010
1750 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
+1.612.375.7600
Founded in 1995, Futurefarmers is a San Francisco–based interdisciplinary collective of artists aligned through an open practice of making art that is socially, politically, and environmentally relevant. As part of Open Field, the Walker is partnering with Northern Lights.mn to commission A People Without A Voice Cannot Be Heard, a temporary, free school using the “voice” as a theme to guide workshops and public events that explore methods to amplify, coordinate and channel our individual and collective voice. Auctioneers, theorists, conductors, ethnomusicologists, local newspapers, artists, and speech pathologists are invited to consider “voice” as a tool for exchange and liberation.
Working with a core group of local collaborators, Futurefarmers Amy Franceschini and Michael Swaine will look at ways that the voice has been used to pass time through song, to elevate the spirit through oratory, to create camaraderie through conversation, and as a “megaphone” in the media. The new group will then teach what they learn to the public throughout the month. The project culminates with a public event and live auction called “Auctions Speak Louder Than Words” on Saturday, September 4.
Red76: Surplus Seminar, July 20 – August 8, 2010
The improvised construction of a schoolhouse built from scrap materials is at the heart of Red76′s three-week Open Field project called Surplus Seminar. Designed and built in an experiential, collaborative way, using the hands and minds of whoever wants to help, the Anywhere/Anyplace Academy (A/AA) becomes a living metaphor for the project’s exploration of the ways we repurpose knowledge and materials.
The mirroring of these two ideas–surplus knowledge and excess materials—suggests that each of us is a consumer and creator of knowledge in the same way that we are receivers and producers of materials goods. In our disposable world, we throw away underutilized ideas as easily as we toss away used goods. Surplus Seminar is comprised of many components, including: A/AA, a series of book-making workshops, discussions on counterculture as pedagogy, underground concerts, and film screenings. Together these activities act as a laboratory to experiment with what the future can look like by reusing and sharing ideas.
Beginning in Portland, Oregon, in 2000, Red76 is now a nationwide network of artists, musicians, and activists who create projects that focus on ways that knowledge is produced and the myriad forms it takes. The collective’s endeavors, ranging from the operation of a month-long free clothing store and potluck restaurant to the episodic publishing a journal on radical histories (Journal of Radical Shimming), are designed to foster—and provoke—discussion and actions in public space.
Open Field is a summer-long event project at the Walker Art Center that investigates the theme of the cultural commons. Inspired by the idea that every community is enriched by collective knowledge and talents, Walker Open Field is a combination of an open university, public park, beer garden, skill-share, and on-going community exchange. Programs are a mix of events organized by artists, the institution, and the public, from small conversations and improvised moments to presentations such as lectures, workshops, demonstrations and a weekly Drawing Club. Select participants over the course of the summer include Olive Bieringa, Bill Daniel, Stephen Duncombe, Lewis Hyde, Peter Haakon Thompson, Jon Ippolito, Rick Prelinger, Carolyn Woolard/OurGoods, and Works Progress.
For press information, please contact Rachel Joyce at rachel.joyce@walkerart.org or +1.612.375.7635
