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| 5/13/2009 10:45:00 AM Email this article • Print this article |
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Carrie Chalmers, Graham McDougal, and Wilka Roig form the core of The Working Relationship. Here, they stand in front of Temp Space, formerly the Battery Warehouse. (Photo by Rachel Philipson) |
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Working Together
Lisa Mance
Although no one disputes the history and importance of our local art community, some wonder how inclusive it is to the often under-represented contemporary artists who work in Ithaca and surrounding areas. The Working Relationship - a year-old amorphous arts group comprised of artists, art historians, academics, collectors and art supporters - is working to change that. And so far, they've been successful behind their wildest hopes.
Helmed by visual artists Carrie Chalmers, Wilka Roig, and Graham McDougal, the Working Relationship provides invaluable opportunities for artists and audience alike. Chalmers - a photographer who previously resided in NYC - formulated the idea with Roig, when pondering the lack of opportunities for contemporary artists to show their work in Ithaca. ("It was really about leaving or making it what I wanted," Chalmers said.) The trio is rounded out by Edinburgh native McDougal, who is currently working at Cornell's College of Art, Architecture & Planning and has resided in Ithaca since 2002. Chalmers has been here since 2001, and Roig since 1998. Like Chalmers and Roig, McDougal confesses to showing his work primarily abroad, away from Ithaca. That may soon change.
So far, the group has hosted several Art Salon Dinners, in which The Working Relationship curates a collection of art to be installed for a single night in a private home. Strangers gather for an evening of food and conversation, with the intention of presenting provocative art in a wholly accessible and low-key setting.
In December, The Workshop Relationship held "Temp Space: Four-Day Social Club," a contemporary art community event held at the former Battery Warehouse on Franklin St. Over a four day period, the Temp Space showcased works by regional, national and international artists, and offered a variety of opportunities to interact with the works and the artists themselves.
For their upcoming event, Carousel, which they envision as being the first of a multi-partite series, The Working Relationship will feature the work of around 20 underrepresented international and regional contemporary artists. In an attempt to provide a new way for Ithaca to experience the viewing of art and engage with the arts community - as well as showcase new local work that viewers might not otherwise see - The Working Relationship will also provide a much-needed service (and filling a crucial void): a way for artists and art supporters to network, meet, and talk about the future for contemporary art in Ithaca.
Looking into the future, The Working Relationship has already scheduled a number of events, including a dual show at CSMA and the String Room Gallery at Wells College, and to Let, a collaborative, community project in which temporary, site-specific works are installed in empty storefronts on The Commons. In an attempt to revitalize the downtown art community as well as stagnant local business, to Let is a truly symbiotic idea that could potentially benefit local artists, commerce, and art appreciators.
The Ithaca Times recently sat down with the core of The Working Relationship to discuss methodology, philosophy and intention. The Working Relationship asks: What is the place of the contemporary art scene within Ithaca's established art world? What kind of opportunities are there for local artists who work in a contemporary vein? After a year of executing their ambitious vision, these answers are already changing.
IT: How would you define 'membership' in The Working Relationship?
Carrie Chalmers: Well, we think that anyone who attends our events, anyone who provides art or support in any way, is a member. You are participating in what we do. We try to be very active and participatory.
Graham McDougal: In thinking about issues of private and public space in relation to a lot of the practices that we've been experimenting with, there's also a relationship between those ideas and not necessarily our own work. A lot of our thinking about contemporary art elsewhere informs our practice and shows and events.
IT: How would you describe the purpose of the Art Salon Dinners?
Chalmers: They're really aimed at creating familiar, comfortable environments that have a little structure, but not too much structure. We've had experiences - and this isn't everyone's story, certainly - where we've talked with people who are interested in contemporary art, but are intimidated by it or don't 'understand' it. Maybe they think it's an in-crowd thing - and we completely disagree with that concept. Somewhere in there, we hope to dispel some of those conceptions.
Roig: It was like, we have no space and no money, but we have friends who are artists and willing to show work, and friends with houses who would be interested in throwing a party. That was our way to warm up to what we could do, and see how the community would respond.
IT: How did the conversation begin for creating The Working Relationship?
Chalmers: In February of 2008, I had the conversation with Wilka. At first, we were thinking of a location - a building, a place, a center. But for me, I'm less interested in a place, and more with an idea.
Roig: We didn't officially start until a bit later; April. A lot of our friends are great artists, and they come here and then leave, for school, or family, or whatever reason (no venues, not a niche for it, and so on) because they feel that what they're doing here, isn't supported. It was this one thing: we kept seeing great people go. But it was also, 'Wait a second - we keep sending out work out, but why can't we show it here? Why can't this be a center where people out there want to bring their work here?'
IT: From there, how did you go about turning your abstract ideas into a tangible goal?
Roig: Basically, we said, 'Wouldn't it be great if we did this, this and this.' And then we backtracked and said, 'Okay. Without any money or specific resources, what can we start achieving right now.' We developed phases in potential - what we wanted to see and what we could realistically do. After we had an initial idea of what it was that we wanted, we did research to see what was out there. A huge part of it is assessing what is lacking, and what we would like to see. Figuring out who is out there, in terms of institutions, people, online resources.
McDougal: It seems as though there is no real defined model that we're following, but there are certainly defined ideas about artist-led spaces or artist-led initiatives that we're aware of and inspired by.
IT: How would you characterize the state of the art scene in Ithaca now?
Chalmers: I think it is very strong for certain types of art. There's a really well-established infrastructure for galleries, funding, events for craftspeople and artisans, people who work in strictly representational forms; landscape is obviously really strong. The community loves that kind of work, and people come and know Ithaca as an arts town.
But our perspective is that art is being made here that isn't represented. We really want to widen the arts scene to include that. It becomes a closed circle - and I think that's where we're trying to step in. It's like, where are these artists going to go? Where can they show their work?
McDougal: One thing that is prevalent in Ithaca is that everything is so media-specific. The Ink Shop, for example, is a great spot, but also an institution that is heavily based on ideas of printmaking and editioning. We approach the project within a certain context, like the storefronts on The Commons. That's the context in which we invite artists to participate, and therefore the work that goes into the space is not media-specific; it's about the contextual space. It's really an environmental issue that we're interested in.
Roig: You ask about the state of art in Ithaca now and what's interesting is that I think we are at the threshold. We are at a point that is calling for a change, for evolution. We already are evolving.
We have reached a critical mass. When we were having conversations, our colleagues and artists were having the same conversations. Different initiatives are bringing it to a new level, and creating networks that are also of interest to us. We thought it would take, like, five years before we would begin to think about doing something with storefronts on The Commons! But so many established groups and institutions have found out about us and have said, 'What can you do with us? How can we get feedback from you on what we do? How can we do it better? How can we be more current?'
Chalmers: We're partnering with a bunch of different local institutions for different events - and for us, that is the 'working relationship'. We're partnering with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance for to Let [The Commons storefront installations]; the Upstairs Gallery is donating their atrium space for Carousel.
McDougal: As well as CSMA, who asked us to do an event in their space that will happen this summer, as did the String Room Gallery in Wells College, as joint exhibits that are held specifically at educational institutions.
IT: As someone who is employed at Cornell, how would you describe the relationship between Cornell and the Ithaca art community? Is there a conversation there?
McDougal: In some respects. Gregory Page is obviously a major part of the Ink Shop, and there's definitely a conversation there...
Roig: And the conversation is also starting to be more active, too. There's more awareness that there's a need for that connection, and more of a reaching out - because I think there were times when there was none. We're hoping to bridge those gaps.
Chalmers: We're definitely trying to include work from all over, like academics as well as local artists who aren't tied to institutions.
IT: How would you break down the submissions process?
Roig: First of all, we are constantly accepting submissions - it's a rolling process. Sometimes it's invitational only, and sometimes it's open, depending on the event. But in the broadest sense of the criteria we have, the [work] must be in the contemporary vein and also be underrepresented.
IT: What are your goals for Carousel?
Roig: We are sure that there are other artists out there that work along the lines of what we do, and we don't know about them. We don't know who they are, or where they are. And one of our goals is to bring those people out of the woodwork and get them to meet each other, get them talking. Making a community that doesn't make us feel isolated.
Chalmers: There's something even more important and harder to define. By letting people relax and be in this environment, and it's like we're sowing the seeds, and we're not even sure how they're going to grow yet.
I think that we see ourselves, in a way, as a connector for all of these other groups, too. I almost think that what we offer is, in a lot of ways, administrative. Because it takes so much effort to put these things on and follow through with them, and we really try to offer stable constancy to do that.
IT: You've mentioned the generosity of other organizations. How do issues of funding and money play into the overall goals of The Working Relationship?
Roig: At the very basis of this, is really that we don't have any money, but we all have a vision. Each of us bring our individual resources, and then as an entity we exchange resources for resources. It's all about networks and creating a support system and community. There might be a time when we get into seriously considering writing grants to support The Working Relatinship on a large scale, but right now, the beauty of this is that we can come together with everyone's individual skill sets and make something greater.
IT: Do you see Ithaca participating in some kind of global art discourse?
Chalmers: We really believe that Ithaca can become an internationally known center for contemporary art.
McDougal: I think as long as there are people coming into Ithaca from all over the world, with different experiences, that transition happens all the time. They come here as students or leave as artists, or come back years later. It's a back and forth.
If you look at the German model, there are all these tiny art museums in the middle of nowhere, and they all have really strong art programs. And the difference between rural and urban art environments, in terms of art, is that these [rural spots] are actually the places that they are be able to take risks and do things because they don't worry about financial issues, galleries, market trends. [Ithaca] should be an exciting place to make that work.
For more information, visit www.theworkingrelationship.com. To read the full interview with The Working Relationship, visit our arts blog, Popcorn Youth (www.ithacatimesartsblog.com).
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 | Reader Comments
| |  | | Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2009
Article comment by:
Jan Kather
The most important part of this article was McDougal's comments about rural/urban spaces:
"And the difference between rural and urban art environments...is that these [rural spots] are actually the places [where artists] are ... able to take risks and do things because they don't worry about financial issues, galleries, market trends. [Ithaca] should be an exciting place to make that work." This perspective allows for art to be directly connected to what we value in life, instead of being a commodity that is made for investment. The Working Relationship provides the possibility for discovering the intangible worth of art in our culture today. Seems to me that this shift in emphasis on the reasons we make art is close to being a revolutionary thought.
| | | | Posted: Friday, May 15, 2009
Article comment by:
MATTHEW ROSE
Absolutely brilliant use of public/private space during a time of scare resources and abundant talent (thankfully). It's wonderful to see intelligence rear its lovely head.
MR
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