The Styrous® Viewfinder: Berkeley Art Museum ~ The Possible

March 1, 2014

Berkeley Art Museum ~ The Possible

photos by Styrous©

Curator's note

Hello! I’m excited to introduce The Possible. In developing this project over the past two years, I have worked with an amazing array of individuals to organize an interdisciplinary series of artist-led classes, field trips, and retreats, as well as an elaborate mail-art correspondence in collaboration with Alexander Kori Girard. These exchanges generated incredible energy, which I hope to share with you: it is a great pleasure to invite you all to get in the mix with this exciting experiment in what a museum can be.

Truly,
David Wilson, Guest Curator

The Possible is an experimental exhibition that reconceives the museum as a site for creative convergence. You will have the chance to be a part of this evolving exhibition by engaging directly with an exciting array of visiting artists. The exhibition opened at the Berkeley Art Museum (BAM) on January 29, 2014. It will run until May 25, 2014.

As an open platform for shared creativity and the exploration of diverse artistic techniques, The Possible combines studio, classroom, library, gallery, and stage. A multisensory library provides context and inspiration, while the galleries are reconfigured as a series of workspaces: a ceramics studio, dye lab, print shop, and recording studio.

Collaborating with one another and the public, a diverse range of guest artists will use these studios to create new work in a public forum. The finished works will filter into a gallery installation, building the exhibition over time.

The hope is to inspire a spirit of experimentation, improvisation, and play by providing opportunities for artists to go deeper into familiar mediums, experience new practices, and work collaboratively. The studios will function as classrooms during a series of Sunday public workshops and audiences will also be invited to participate in discussions, performances, and field trips during the course of the exhibition.

The Kids Club is a special gallery devoted to engaging children in the creative process that is at the heart of this project.

The collaboration has already begun: exhibition curator artist David Wilson with Director Lawrence Rinder and Director of Engagement Aimee Chang, have been inviting artists to participate in retreats, classes, and an extensive mail-art correspondence, sparking ideas for The Possible. Follow the planning process as it unfolds on tumblr.

The exhibition catalog will be developed through an onsite residency with the L.A.-based experimental publishing studio Public Fiction, and will be available for purchase in fall 2014. Preorder at the Museum Store.