Rewilding: Alive in the Churn is a collaborative, interactive installation curated by artist Kotone Deguchi and co-produced by PVD Young Makers (PVDYM) and Providence Public Library (PPL). The installation is located physically in PPL’s new 3rd floor Joan T. Boghossian Gallery and digitally on various platforms.
Now open and evolving through December 16, Rewilding: Alive in the Churn has transformed PPL’s exhibition gallery into an interactive biome for artists and experimenters, creating a physical and virtual space that is iterative, collaborative, and ever changing. Join us to explore, experience, and experiment with ways of being in a world that’s in flux.
Members of the public and nine guest artists will continually transform the gallery space through visual art, performance, sound design, video projection, etc.
For this exhibition, rather than each guest artist having a period of time in which their art is showcased, then removed, with the space then reset for the next artist, each artist is instead asked to enter and respond to the space as they find it, with whatever thoughts and histories they bring with them, and, using whatever materials/media they choose, to leave whatever mark they will for the next artist. Each incoming artist is invited to alter the space, further developing the transformations that came before them, just as they must concede that their alterations may be further transformed after they leave. From this process develops a space of shared and layered history that continually builds upon itself, hour by hour, day by day.
On days when a guest artist is scheduled, that artist can choose to invite the public in to witness, participate, interact, etc., or choose to share their work another way. On the days that are not dedicated to the guest artists, members of the public are invited to create and interact with the space as well. All art forms (visual, performance, sound, video, etc.) are welcome; materials will be available and guests can bring their own.
Embracing the realization that we do not create from a blank slate, that any potential for the future will be created and recreated from what has come before, this process-based exhibition offers a more deeply truthful experience of the way life, community, and history are built: all at once, all on top of each other, all in different directions, and with less time than we want. It rejects the violent myth of the reset, and celebrates spaces that are built with the understanding and acceptance that they will be altered. Rewilding: Alive in the Churn invites us to recognize and engage actively with today’s instability and ferment, acknowledges and honors the ongoing accrual of a longer history, and opens the doors to everyone to fully participate.
We are grateful to Adler’s Design Center & Hardware and Ruggieri Carpet One Floor and Home, who generously donated material for creating and sustaining the physical version of this exhibition.
Rewilding: Alive in the Churn will exist digitally as much as physically
In addition to the physical gallery installation, Rewilding: Alive in the Churn’s digital gallery offers a metaspace of further exploration and play. Nate Goncalves will be lead documentarian, further transforming the physical into digital through his textural and painterly photography and videography. Artist and videographer Lo Bell will document the work of artists and members of the public in the gallery space. Sia Karpee, a PVD Young Makers intern, will conduct interviews with the invited artists and interested public participants. The guest artists have been asked to document their time, transformations, and thoughts in whatever form they choose, whether photography, video, sound recording, written text, etc. A hashtag, #rewildingpvd, and public photo gallery allow the public to share their documentation as well.
From 12/3 to 12/8 there will be a slow deconstruction of the installation space, as a continuation of the philosophy of continual history; the public will be welcome to participate in this phase of the exhibition as well. From 12/13 to 12/16 the gallery will host a public showcase of extracted artifacts from the installation, encased in PPL’s glass exhibition shelving.
Websites and Social Media
PPL landing page: https://www.provlib.org/programs-exhibitions/
Exhibition website: https://rewilding.digital
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rewildingpvd/
Schedule of Guest Artists (gallery times may vary artist to artist)
These nine guest artists have been scheduled by name, but we invite everyone interested in interacting with and impacting the space to come participate. All are invited into the installation space with total autonomy, but not total control. The invitation is to come into a space already marked by those who came in and tried to build before, with the understanding that others will come and try to build their own after.
• October 22(Fri) & 23 (Sat) – Ricardo Maxime
• October 27 (Wed) & 28 (Thurs) – Cai Diluvio
• October 30 (Sat) – Tiffany Land
• November 1 (Mon) & 2 (Tues) – Andrew Oesch
• November 5 (Fri) & 6 (Sat) – Kei Soares Cobb
• November 9 (Tue) & 10 (Wed) – Fatema Maswood
• November 13 (Sat) – Tiffany Land
• November 15 (Mon) & 16 (Tue) – Charlie Best
• November 19 (Fri) & 20 (Sat) – Brooxana Pierre
• November 22 (Mon) & 23 (Tue) – Holly Ewald
Open Days for Public Participation (gallery is open 10am to 3pm on these days):
November:
Wed 11/3
Thurs 11/4
Mon 11/8
Fri 11/12
Wed 11/17
Thurs 11/18
Wed 11/24
Fri 11/26
Sat 11/27
Mon 11/29
Tues 11/30
December:
Wed 12/1
Thurs 12/2
Fri 12/3
Sat 12/4
Mon 12/6
Tues 12/7
Wed 12/8
Extracted Exhibitions Items on Public Display (gallery is open 10am to 3pm on these days)
Mon 12/13
Tues 12/14
Wed 12/15
Thurs 12/16
Sign up to add to the digital gallery here: https://forms.gle/Z2DzHdWRkD5FJfRC7