Art Spaces Archives Project at CAA 2010 [Press Release]
At the College Art Association's 98th Annual Conference in Chicago, AS-AP will present a panel discussion, "Alternative Publishing and Distribution Models as Art and Curatorial Practice."
NEA and NYSCA Grants awarded to Art Spaces Archives Project [Press Release]
The National Endowment for the Arts and The New York State Council on the Arts have both awarded the Art Spaces Archives Project with substantial funding in support of projects relating to archiving alternative and avant-garde arts organizations throughout the United States.
Woodstock, NY • http://www.paulmcmahon.tv
Project Inc. is the name of a series of one night Conceptual, Performance, Video, Film and other art from 1972-75. I was allowed to use the space of the eponymous community art center which is still open at the same location these 30 plus years later. It was an international program of over thirty shows by a number of artists who are much better known today than they were then. The entire Boston area audience at that time for this type of work was less than thirty people but the mailing list had 300, with about twenty to Europe and most of the rest to NY and California.This is my original statement from 1973. It was before public funding for the Arts in Massachusetts.
PROJECT INC. is a small non-profit organization that gives courses in art for children and teen aged kids. They offer photography, ceramics, figure drawing, etc. I rent their white walled storefront space when I do shows. The shows are for one night only. This is necessary for financial reasons, but it is a good idea in itself because it forces a concentration of attention on the work. A lot of people are present and the situation is conducive to critical conversation. Several of the shows became long talking sessions with the artist, lasting an hour or two beyond the scheduled time. Ordinarily there is very little communication between viewers at an art gallery except at an opening, and people do not look at the art very much at openings because they have other things to do and they figure they can come back and see the show later. At PROJECT people know that this is their only chance to see the work and the situation encourages them to talk about it. I think it is important that the shows are run on a non-profit basis (actually at a loss of money), because that makes it clear that the sole motivating force is an interest in showing art. It is important for small galleries like PROJECT to exist on the peripheries of the art world as an alternative to the existing gallery system. The big galleries are not perfect and the culture needs alternatives or else good artists and interesting new ideas may not get shown. Also, because PROJECT is non-profit, I have no bias against showing events and other non-saleable work. The New York galleries that show contemporary work have shown little interest in performance art and tending to show only artist whose work sells. PROJECT places a great deal of emphasis on finding new talent as well as showing more established artists. The shows are presented on a very low buget. I put out a mailing list, rent the space, feed and house the artist, and pay his/her traveling expenses when necessary. This all comes from a modest salary I get working at a gas station, on which I also support myself. The reason I bring this up is to point out that any number of people could afford to do something like what I am doing. My personal interest in running the shows is mainly to try and show new and interesting work and particularly work that, in my opinion has not received as much attention as it should. Along these lines, I think it is extremely important to show the work of very good artists who have not been given full credit for their contributions. A good example of this type of artist is Dan Graham and I was happy to have the opportunity to show him. I also think it is important for me to be flexible about the kinds of work I show. Although most of my shows would be classified as conceptual art, I am interested in showing other kinds of art. I have shown paintings and I will probably show more. I don’t believe that one type of art is necessarily better than another. My only commitment is to show work that I think is interesting and timely.