i will be your surrogate grandparent :: oakland museum project

May 16, 2013

i will be your surrogate grandparent :: oakland museum project

hey ... what are you doing next weekend? want to come learn a skill with me at the oakland museum as part of their we customize show?

generally i'm not a "social practice" artist - but i had this idea a while back. and then the we customize rover was at one of the craft fairs i attended... and when i talked to the curator about my idea... she thought it would be a perfect fit for this show.

the premise? [this was my proposal write up]

In thinking about how I became an artist I am always revising memories of sitting around with my grandparents and making/fixing things. In a contemporary art making practice an artist is often faced with the challenge of how to physically realize a concept. Many times we simply decide to learn a new skill, figure out how a tool works or gain access o facilities we need in order to finalize a piece. Most artists I know jump right in with both feet and simply figure it out. Do it yourself is in the end the most practical, affordable and fun method to make work.

Occasionally when I speak with people who are not artists they seem surprised at my penchant for collecting new tools and skills. When I have a broken lamp I fix it, when they have a broken lamp they take it to someone to fix or they purchase a new one. Of course it’s not always this simple, but in a general sense I have found this to be the case.

My tendency to fix/alter/repair items and my desire to take things apart and see how they work stems directly from my grandparents. My grandfather had boxes of tools and the will to fix every switch, broken clasp, unhinged door himself. My grandmother with her crafting ability embroidered, knitted, and crocheted items for her home and loved ones. It was just NORMAL to do these things. And they taught and showed me what they knew. And in the end really helped foster confidence in my ability to problem solve.

I want to thus offer a very small, but tangible form of this experience to others. I offer a list of skills/tasks that I can readily teach or help people with. I also offer people to submit things they don’t know how to do, but would like to. If I think it’s feasible, I will attempt to learn the skill and we can tackle together how to get it done. In essence I will become surrogate grandparents for anyone who wants to participate in this project.