A Happy Collaborationists Hypothesis: Sleepover
@ Happy Collaborationists' Exhibition Space
1254 N Noble St, Chicago, IL 60642
Opening Saturday, May 14th, from 8PM - 10PM
On view through Sunday, May 15th
Though Happy Collaborationists is known as an artistic and curatorial project, being a member of the collective means collaboration never seizes to exist. In our recent show at the MDW Fair we exhibited art objects that had been left behind at the gallery and integrated into our daily lives. We addressed the movement of the art object in and out of the exhibition space as it is constantly fluctuating between gallery and apartment. Through Sleepover we wish to construct a performative installation to further illustrate how Happy Collaborationists affects our every day existence.
In the preface to Lives of the Artists, Calvin Tomkins writes,
“Formalist art critics used to say that the life of an artist was irrelevant to the understanding of his or her work… In my experience, the lives of the contemporary artists are so integral to what they make that the two cannot be considered in isolation. If the work is interesting, the life probably is too.”
At the Happy Collaborationist Exhibition space we eat, live and sleep alongside the art we show. The living quarters of Happy C, where each member has resided at one point in time, provides little privacy from each other and is often co-opted for the purpose of gallery storage. Living in this space is a cross between a sleepover, a residency, a co-op and/or dorm room.
Through this hypothesis, we will carefully construct a biographical installation by moving our bedroom furniture and personal items into the gallery side of Happy C—including the possessions of our currently out of town member Hadley, who’s suit cases will reflect the impact of a long distance dedication to our on-going projects.
At the end of our opening all are invited to spend the night at the Happy Collaborationists Exhibition Space. Our hope is that through the innocence of a sleepover reminiscent of childhood days our audience will giggle, eat popcorn, even collaborate on ideas with the artist community Happy C strives to create and foster.
Please bring a sleeping bag and pillow. In the morning there will be pancakes.
« previous event
next event »