SCENES A FAIRE: ART & LAW RESIDENCY EXHIBITION
Nathan Manuel, Sophia Wallace, Diana Shpungin, Alex Snukal, John Chi-Yun Lee, Carol R. Irving, James Kienitz Wilkins, Jenn Kahn, Joanna Montoya, John Hawke, Luis Nieto Dickens, and Jennifer Dean
Dumbo Arts Center, New York | October 5 – 21, 2012
Scènes à Faire features artworks and programming made in response to the complex relationship between legal and artistic practices by the artists, writer, and curators of the 2012 Art & Law Residency program. The exhibition title, Scènes à Faire, stems from the term used in theatrical and legal arenas as the “scene to be made” and that essential element which is an obligatory component that cannot be isolated, copyrighted, or ignored. Held this year at Dumbo Arts Center, the “scenes a faire” of the exhibition’s diverse projects is the usage of language (textual and visual) as a means to address issues the law: power structures, privilege, intent, representations of loss, and access to knowledge.
As legal issues permeate into every aspect of social, political and cultural life, artistic production is no longer immune. The eight-month Art & Law Residency program provides an intellectual and artistic setting for artists, writers, and curators to engage in ongoing discussions and debates that examine the overlap and disconnect between artistic production and the law from historical, social, ethical and intellectual standpoints. Using law as discourse and medium, Residents gain the experience and knowledge for the artworks in Scènes à Faire and work beyond the Program. The Art & Law Residency is a program of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
For the first time, the Resident artists, curators, and writer published a catalogue that highlights their individual practices as well as the relationship they draw between art and the law. Available for purchase at Dumbo Arts Center. Public programming included a walking tour of coin-operated rides by Jenn Kahn and an Artist Film Club screening at Nitehawk Cinema.
CARYN COLEMAN 