Note: You can find this book at the RISD library - it's a great read!
In his essay, Jorgen lays out his reasons for how he came to make "social sculpture" as a young artist emerging from a painting background. One of his motivating factors was the economic downturn in the early 90s, which led to the disappearance of many contemporary art galleries. In his own words, "A group of yong artists realized that in order to work as artists and have their work be part of public discussions, they would need to find their own solutions and create new arenas for their art."
The context in which Svensson relocated his practice outside of the gallery framework echoes the shifting realities of the current economic crisis, though we have yet to see the full extent of the fallout. I am very interested in building discussions around what RISD, as an institution and community, can do to encourage students in imagining alternative ways of being creative producers and thinkers. And more than imagining, actually experimenting with these alternatives while within this environment which so intensely supports creative exploration. These kinds of conversations are being seeded in classes such as Design for Social Entrepeneurship - indeed students at RISD today are, on the whole, probably more socially conscious than artists of Svensson's age who were saturated in the hyper art star, market-oriented frame of reference.
At the same time, I feel that our office also can play a leadership role in promoting resources and opportunities for students to recontextualize their artmaking for today's realities. This fall we will convene a focus group of RISD community members to discuss some of the ways that our work can tie into the larger Creative Providence cultural plan being put together by the City of Providence. Leveraging new RISD/Providence project-based collaborations could be one way to combine our resources in smart ways and offer new opportunties for community engagement in action.
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