Spring 2015
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, New York 10019
www.moma.org/artistsexperiment
Artists Experiment is an annual initiative in the Department of Education that brings contemporary artists and MoMA educators together to develop innovative and experimental public interactions. Through its programs, this initiative offers new insights into the Museum and its collection, addressing the intersection between pedagogy, art, and public engagement. This year’s artists are Nina Katchadourian, Michael Rakowitz, and The Office for Creative Research (Jer Thorp, Ben Rubin, and Mark Hansen).
Upcoming programs
Artists Experiment opening reception
April 1, 6pm
Meet this year’s artists and celebrate the launch of our spring season.
A Sort of Joy (Thousands of Exhausted Things)
April 4, noon, and April 7, 2015, 1pm
The Office For Creative Research, in collaboration with Elevator Repair Service, presents a live, site-specific performance using MoMA’s collection database as the source material for its script.
Art and Practice Seminar Series
These discussion-based seminars aim to create dialogue between emerging and experienced artists and curators. Contact [email protected] for registration.
Session III: Nina Katchadourian with curator Regine Basha
April 28, 6pm
Artist Nina Katchadourian and curator Regine Basha explore their ongoing professional relationship, addressing specific past projects such as site-specific commissions, commercial gallery shows, and focused talks.
Session IV: Michael Rakowitz with artist Aaron Hughes
May 5, 6pm
Artists Michael Rakowitz and Aaron Hughes introduce their collaboration on Rakowitz’s ongoing project Enemy Kitchen and explore other intersections in their individual practices.
2015 artists
Nina Katchadourian (Brooklyn, New York) works with a variety of mediums, including sculpture, video, photography, and sound. Her work often originates from her interest in mundane situations where art doesn’t seem likely or possible. Her video installation Accent Elimination will be exhibited in the Armenian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, and in 2016 her work will be the subject of a traveling solo museum show originating at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas. Katchadourian is an associate professor at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
Michael Rakowitz (Chicago, Illinois) is an Iraqi-American conceptual artist who operates within and beyond art spaces. In 1998 he initiated paraSITE, an ongoing project in which the artist custom builds inflatable shelters for homeless people, attached to buildings’ exterior vents. In 2012, his Enemy Kitchen food truck invited veterans of the Iraq War to serve Iraqi food to Chicago’s hungry public. His work has appeared in venues worldwide including solo exhibitions at Tate Modern (London), Lombard Freid Gallery (New York), Alberto Peola Arte Contemporanea (Torino), and Kunstraum Innsbruck. Rakowitz is a professor in the Department of Art, Theory and Practice at Northwestern University.
The Office for Creative Research (Jer Thorp, Mark Hansen, Ben Rubin) is a multidisciplinary research group that explores new modes of engagement with data through practices that borrow from science, technology, and the arts.
Jer Thorp is an adjunct professor in the ITP program at New York University and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Design Innovation. From 2010 to 2012, he was Data Artist in Residence at The New York Times. In 2013, Thorp was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer.
Mark Hansen is a professor of journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and director of the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation. Hansen holds a PhD and MA in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Ben Rubin is an internationally renowned media artist who has worked closely with figures in contemporary culture, including composer Steve Reich; architects Pelli Clarke Pelli, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Renzo Piano; and performer Laurie Anderson. Rubin has taught at the Bard College MFA program, New York University, and the Yale School of Art.
