ThreeWalls Blog

5 Questions for Randall Szott and InCUBATE

posted October 31, 2009 in events

Halfway through its duration, we asked the organizers of  "In Search of the Mundane" to answer a few questions about the show and their other projects.  Don't miss the exhibition's next event, "Envisioning One's Living Conditions: Tour of Anthony Elm's Artist and Exhibition Ephemera" tomorrow, November 1st, at 2pm.

“In Search of the Mundane” consists of a series of events on the art of living.  There’s a number of activities that could have been included.  How did you decide on the programming for the show?

InCUBATE:  In general, the programming was chosen based on all of shared interests.  We had done some of the activities together before and enjoyed (team trivia, boozy brunches), and others were activities one or more of us had always wanted (the food tour of Maxwell Street Market, the wine tasting).  The Public Culture Lectures are part of a regular series of events we have co-organized in the past and which are usually hosted at the Orientation Center in Logan Square.  The opportunity to base a series of events from threewalls has allowed us to share these things with a greater number of people, many of whom we weren't previously in contact with.

The thematic titles for each event are based in another shared interest of ours, Michel de Certau's book The Practice of Everyday Life.  The titles are poached from the subheadings of sections within the book that have been particularly thought-provoking to us.

RS:  Programming is always a balance among what you'd like to do and what is actually feasible due to budget and the availability and willingness of others to participate. In other words the decisions were highly pragmatic (in the most basic sense of the term).

 

The lecturers and guides involved in the events come from various fields and interests, which include art, as well as food, wine, and collecting.  Have you found that the show has brought a different kind of audience into the gallery?

InCUBATE:  It's always tricky to speculate about who's walking through the door.  We can say that In Search of the Mundane has allowed us to meet people who've never been to an InCUBATE event before.  Hopefully this series of events will show that the fields which many of them are based in are more permeable and open to non-experts than they might initially seem.

This exhibition relates to conversations in He said, She said, The Department of Aesthetics, as well as in the programming at InCUBATE.  How has “In Search of the Mundane” expanded upon those conversations?

RS:  It provides opportunities to literally expand them by increasing the number of potential participants. It also allows for a pragmatic (in the larger sense) test of the ideas and conversations in experience. It is also a useful test to see how the site of activities impacts the enactment and perception of them.

What are InCUBATE‘s upcoming projects, events, or plans?

InCUBATE:  We're going through the selection process for our thematic residency in December.  We also host one Sunday Soup Brunch a month.   With Material Exchange and Adam Bobbette, we participated in an exhibition that's up right now in Buffalo, NY at CEPA Gallery called "Conversation Pieces."  In December we'll head back for the closing to give away a grant.  We'll also be launching the Artist Run Credit League this fall.

Randall, what‘s next for you?

RS:  Just plodding along in search of meaningful experiences to share with others...