Outpost for Contemporary Art

bioproposaloutpost-art.org

 

January 1st, 2006

Hi Veronica,

I am glad I had an opportunity to meet with you and Irene because hearing your reasons for wanting Outpost’s involvement in Civic Matters was very helpful. It never would have occurred to me that it might be interesting to look so objectively at HOW an organization like Outpost exists (and perhaps
 through that process tangibly experience WHY it exists as well), and to do so by involving Civic Matters participants into our fundraising efforts, and, at risk of sounding overly dramatic, into the organization’s will to exist.

From what I understand, you and Irene think that the way Outpost exists, i.e. the way it supports itself, where it is in its development as a young organization, how it goes about its business, may present something unusual and interesting to consider within the loose framework of Civic Matters.

Already, considering Outpost’s involvement in this light has helped me resolve one of the bigger challenges I have faced in coming up with a useful and interesting proposal for Civic Matters. I have to admit that I have felt stumped by this project and I think this is because Outpost’s involvement as a participant within a curatorial proposal/premise has been a bit of a role reversal.

Outpost exists to facilitate artists proposals and desires within a chosen curatorial objective. As I mentioned during our meeting, we have chosen to organize our programs within two-year cycles that focus on a particular region of the world. Our first two-year cycle is looking at art and artists from North America and continues through Fall 2006 with a project by Mexican artist Minerva Cuevas (March/April 2006) and a large group series called “Fair Trade” (Sept/Oct 2006). After this, our focus will shift to Eastern and Central Europe.

We decided to place this geographic focus on our programs as a way to limit distractions (there are too many interesting artists and opportunities out there!) and keep us on course. Sometimes limitations such as this are frustrating but I also find them incredibly useful. For instance, at first I
 wondered if Civic Matters was one of these distractions, and I couldn’t find a way to make it work within Outpost’s present geographic focus. However, if we can figure out a way to open Outpost’s process up and invite participants into our fundraising efforts (which will support the abovementioned projects) then both purposes will be served. Brilliant!

Thank you and talk real soon.

Julie

 

 

Proposal from Outpost and Julie (December 17th, 2005)

Running with the Journals’ provocative line of thought 
about labor and how to capitalize on the “pool of
 eager, willing and skilled labourers” our Swedish
 guests represent, Outpost (working off the same
 assumption, which may or may not be valid) would like
 to propose a similar self-serving but hopefully 
mutually beneficial offer using a new building in
 Highland Park as a site of engagement. The long-range 
plan for this building is to provide a home for
 Outpost. The building will serve as a residency for
 international artists, a meeting ground for local and
 international artists, and office space for Outpost.

What an amazing opportunity it is for Outpost to be in 
a position to ask this group of Swedish architects,
 artists, designers to develop and share a range of
 ideas about how the building would best serve these
 purposes! If this is of interest, perhaps we could
 make time to hold a public presentation of these ideas
 at LACE and/or at the building itself. Though I cannot
 promise very comfortable accommodations, I also really
 like the idea of hosting anybody who would like to
 stay there.

One of the building’s attributes is that it is located
 within a few blocks of the Highland Park metro
 station. To get started, I would like to propose a
 visit to Outpost’s future home by way of the metro
 early on in the two-week period because becoming
 familiar with public transpiration will make for a
 more pleasant visit for the Swedes. Using this mode of
 transpiration will also help draw a connection between
 the two neighborhoods and in a way shorten the
 distance between them.

I will post pictures of the building early next week.
 Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Julie