https://kylebelluccijohanson.com Kyle Bellucci Johanson Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:13:08 +0000 https://kylebelluccijohanson.com en https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/Home Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:34:49 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/Home KYLE BELLUCCI JOHANSON Un populu, diventa poviru e servu, quannu ci arrubbanu a lingua addutata di patri: è persu pi sempri. —Ignazio Buttitta, “Lingua e dialettu,” 1970 https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/untitled-imaginary-futures-by-any-means-necessary Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:13:08 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/untitled-imaginary-futures-by-any-means-necessary <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7b6f56a0d50be8c30f9f77608890ed8e3108f3524eb0a1444449a3eee4e9e6de/IMG_8971.jpeg" data-mid="246326452" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7b6f56a0d50be8c30f9f77608890ed8e3108f3524eb0a1444449a3eee4e9e6de/IMG_8971.jpeg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e204082f3d3b300997dd517061c2bf2fcea2d31cd313ed357ff7aea5e58f355e/IMG_9100.jpeg" data-mid="246326461" border="0" data-scale="80" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e204082f3d3b300997dd517061c2bf2fcea2d31cd313ed357ff7aea5e58f355e/IMG_9100.jpeg" /> <img width="5272" height="3954" width_o="5272" height_o="3954" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a0dfeaf46465d1aedd09cc63f04934ac0372061f693263afd3fb8d5809f961c0/IMG_8962.jpeg" data-mid="246326454" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a0dfeaf46465d1aedd09cc63f04934ac0372061f693263afd3fb8d5809f961c0/IMG_8962.jpeg" /> <img width="4284" height="5712" width_o="4284" height_o="5712" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/133ac4a5a792f445d10f8a46591325449a3cbf4215d577abfad7173d18a2eeb6/IMG_9102.jpeg" data-mid="246326459" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/133ac4a5a792f445d10f8a46591325449a3cbf4215d577abfad7173d18a2eeb6/IMG_9102.jpeg" /> untitled imaginary futures (by any means necessary)2026Brick, Glass, Hazard Light, Privacy Mirror. A participant work in WUNDERKAMMER, The inaugural show in Crystal Palace, Part 1.&nbsp; Curator: Paul Ramirez JonasThe Crystal Palace is a temporary exhibition space composed of cabinets made from the postal boxes that were formerly located in the basement of Sibley. It is inspired by the cabinets of curiosities (Wunderkammer) of the sixteenth century—precursors to museums—and by the Crystal Palace that housed the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in 1851, a precursor to World Expos.Despite their fraught relationship to colonialism and empire, these are some of the roots of our current ideas of exhibitions. They emphasized group participation; representation through images, objects, and artifacts; and the exchange of ideas. Formally, they also favored transparency and the use of glass.Participant Artists:&nbsp; Kyle Bellucci Johanson Matt Bollinger Mark Anthony Brown, Jr. Oscar Rene Cornejo Eric Hibit Jen de los Reyes Lou Fuchs Julianne Hunter Devon Jenkins and Eli Bressler Carla Liesching Joanna Malinowska Leeza Meksin Elisabeth Meyer Cora Moss Keith Obadike Carl Ostendarp Maria Park Paul Ramírez Jonas Jackie Riccio Paulina Velázquez Solís https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/KLUB-WRKR Tue, 16 Jul 2024 19:23:16 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/KLUB-WRKR <img width="3972" height="2931" width_o="3972" height_o="2931" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/64b505062f43baae6228b9d907f14fb9cf226af50d5d4ceaf84a523846ad2b6d/IMG_2058.jpg" data-mid="228666103" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/64b505062f43baae6228b9d907f14fb9cf226af50d5d4ceaf84a523846ad2b6d/IMG_2058.jpg" /> <img width="3868" height="2882" width_o="3868" height_o="2882" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9318a7f2aeb48c605089cffd72d386c4a4bfed89af77d20d638569439363e0f9/IMG_2071-copy.jpeg" data-mid="214769763" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9318a7f2aeb48c605089cffd72d386c4a4bfed89af77d20d638569439363e0f9/IMG_2071-copy.jpeg" /> <img width="3667" height="2803" width_o="3667" height_o="2803" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2079a310deaf15432b8d0497fbd719829edfc34f45da7e0396750f5eaa57f75f/IMG_4145-copy.jpg" data-mid="214990016" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2079a310deaf15432b8d0497fbd719829edfc34f45da7e0396750f5eaa57f75f/IMG_4145-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3847" height="2948" width_o="3847" height_o="2948" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/55ff9f69e3ce50e0e93f461355c47f3ff3d94c1dd02a2f8e146a758c36625662/IMG_2060-copy.jpg" data-mid="214999611" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/55ff9f69e3ce50e0e93f461355c47f3ff3d94c1dd02a2f8e146a758c36625662/IMG_2060-copy.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc8c0dc3d145bce939ff2a293a5cda9a591ed13e18a143146ffd2e833ef8ab19/IMG_2081.jpg" data-mid="214769764" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cc8c0dc3d145bce939ff2a293a5cda9a591ed13e18a143146ffd2e833ef8ab19/IMG_2081.jpg" /> <img width="3875" height="2820" width_o="3875" height_o="2820" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/711e3fbd9b018c8c788ded7d7e904e4a8b8df1f2f577449516c96f43c5a30798/IMG_2054-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="214769760" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/711e3fbd9b018c8c788ded7d7e904e4a8b8df1f2f577449516c96f43c5a30798/IMG_2054-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="3982" height="2983" width_o="3982" height_o="2983" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c97ac0dc6c4b02bed02b7622de5e56027a38251c084ba03b6187c749fb0fc2b5/IMG_2056-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="214989819" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c97ac0dc6c4b02bed02b7622de5e56027a38251c084ba03b6187c749fb0fc2b5/IMG_2056-copy-2.jpg" /> Installation views at council_st Los Angeles, CaliforniaKLUB WRKR 2024 KLUB WRKR is a roaving, itinerant exhibition composed of interactive media and custom-made furniture inspired by Alexander Rodchenko’s Workers’ Club. The space for self-education and leisure of the soviet proletariat has been reimagined as a nomadic performance-architecture raising questions about identity, emancipation, and labor today. KLUB WRKR points to the oppositional forces of struggle and exploitation that form subjectivity, and centers the politics and economy of friendship as a method for revolutionary action. The project’s components included a dialectical karaoke machine, a 24-hour comrade hotline, a 2-channel 2-player video game and arcade apparatus titled ‘lupa rossi,’ a suite of plans for utilitarian sculptures, and a neon sign of the project’s namesake hung in a salvaged crate frame. &nbsp; <img width="2943" height="1912" width_o="2943" height_o="1912" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0e261fa4fd37bbfb63e24071525835379f459a76b528a0347372c90e893cbac3/KBJOHANSON_map-copy.jpg" data-mid="214985857" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0e261fa4fd37bbfb63e24071525835379f459a76b528a0347372c90e893cbac3/KBJOHANSON_map-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7b37da25be69f2c1bd2168416a4137eb1c07423d8ace815bb06d54094f5d8a07/IMG_3634-copy.jpg" data-mid="214992826" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7b37da25be69f2c1bd2168416a4137eb1c07423d8ace815bb06d54094f5d8a07/IMG_3634-copy.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e6cf59d99f5e74b75bafe3b052b60d6550d8ce2f2ed2c966ead174f8db55acff/IMG_3643.jpg" data-mid="214949234" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e6cf59d99f5e74b75bafe3b052b60d6550d8ce2f2ed2c966ead174f8db55acff/IMG_3643.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/86df87411e210e9dd924f038f13bd21b21169c79bff706989070ef30551269b9/IMG_3648.jpg" data-mid="214769795" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/86df87411e210e9dd924f038f13bd21b21169c79bff706989070ef30551269b9/IMG_3648.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c46745f3b623bf1a57e765a456ff1060ad5a59c8918ac22793ecce07b18192e/IMG_3652.jpg" data-mid="214949237" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2c46745f3b623bf1a57e765a456ff1060ad5a59c8918ac22793ecce07b18192e/IMG_3652.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1497fbdc0122d580aeec92b797a8b8a25f0cd759edde7e5f1a34d60dfe0e8241/IMG_3646.jpg" data-mid="214949243" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1497fbdc0122d580aeec92b797a8b8a25f0cd759edde7e5f1a34d60dfe0e8241/IMG_3646.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0590f1cef489de1b54196f6021810e188cf65255232e4aa545444060283cb201/IMG_0278-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769794" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0590f1cef489de1b54196f6021810e188cf65255232e4aa545444060283cb201/IMG_0278-copy.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/55ff793ada0b14b151ffe1a3af3e939d5a8eedcbb8ac1d82197248e270cc9b89/IMG_0288-copy.jpg" data-mid="214992643" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/55ff793ada0b14b151ffe1a3af3e939d5a8eedcbb8ac1d82197248e270cc9b89/IMG_0288-copy.jpg" /> <img width="2890" height="3911" width_o="2890" height_o="3911" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1326e19a53f136f7af64e8304da6f240523e7aee0b168ab5a656cf82b00389e6/IMG_3658-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769796" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1326e19a53f136f7af64e8304da6f240523e7aee0b168ab5a656cf82b00389e6/IMG_3658-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/728670f7ab823646843408f650a5e888cbf025face05dd09277543d2af5528d1/IMG_6159-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769802" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/728670f7ab823646843408f650a5e888cbf025face05dd09277543d2af5528d1/IMG_6159-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1310" height="1039" width_o="1310" height_o="1039" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0a78715a82535b9184d01c0ce809268566c4445091dd01e4d4e8eb2f855890db/IMG_0279-copy.jpg" data-mid="214989812" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0a78715a82535b9184d01c0ce809268566c4445091dd01e4d4e8eb2f855890db/IMG_0279-copy.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3bf6ed823cde1967a5230e96a4051418af29d4ed8e4daee54bb27a4df1d000a0/IMG_3707-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769797" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3bf6ed823cde1967a5230e96a4051418af29d4ed8e4daee54bb27a4df1d000a0/IMG_3707-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b2c296f008fc41f13467a804e6677bd43e1882146196d8641d6901e6888a83f/IMG_3729-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769799" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b2c296f008fc41f13467a804e6677bd43e1882146196d8641d6901e6888a83f/IMG_3729-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1597" height="1196" width_o="1597" height_o="1196" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e2a978f99886bbfce360eccb3bfc3469c5e1cffccb2fd8a3df975f34e6206b98/IMG_3938-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769777" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e2a978f99886bbfce360eccb3bfc3469c5e1cffccb2fd8a3df975f34e6206b98/IMG_3938-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3928" height="2944" width_o="3928" height_o="2944" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d4fc804a2333e966686c8a69a7cd1a85b7fed1ab77473e9c0d1920cfc0eb8c4f/IMG_3771-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769800" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d4fc804a2333e966686c8a69a7cd1a85b7fed1ab77473e9c0d1920cfc0eb8c4f/IMG_3771-copy.jpg" /> KLUB WRKR at LIKELIKE, Pittsburgh; Monk Parakeet, Chicago; and Axle Contemporary, Santa Fe. KLUB WRKR exhibition textby Annika HaasWelcome to KLUB WRKR. KLUB WRKR is a show by Kyle Bellucci Johanson, a Chicago born artist who lives in New York. KLUB WRKR is not just an exhibition. It is also an invitation to gather and convene around questions of workers and to explore the relation of labour and how much it shapes our lives and identities in the US today. Everything you see here is designed to fold up and fit in the back of a gig-worker’s vehicle. Kyle rented a Chrysler minivan to drive from New York across the US. Starting on Labour Day, May 1st 2024, he stopped in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Santa Fe before arriving in Los Angeles. One of the first things you might notice in the gallery space is the self-built furniture. You are free to use it, to rest, have conversations, fun, or have a snack. To add, there will be meals organized throughout the course of the show. Bringing together new and old friends around food connects to previous projects of Kyle’s for whom “[t]he only worthwhile reason to make art, or to do anything for that matter, is to make friends.” For his KLUB WRKR show, Kyle took inspiration from workers’ clubs in early 20thcentury Europe. These clubs were set up by communist trade unions and parties and were especially popular in the Soviet Union. Artists like Elena Semenova or Alexander Rodchenko engaged with the idea by designing furniture and interior architecture for those clubs. Rodchenko imagined a workers’ club as a functional space to gather, host events, read magazines and books, and share news. Kyle adapts some of these ideas with the pieces you find and can use in the show. KLUB WRKR is a space. It contains furniture as well as a video game, a karaoke machine, a comrade hotline, and a video installation showing the cross-country drive to L.A. KLUB WRKR is pop-up space to gather all kinds of workers in the 21st century. &nbsp; You think you are not a worker? Chris Smalls, founder and president of the Amazon Labor Union in Staten Island says, “… at the end of the day, we’re all a part of the working class, no matter what movement … And if you’re in the labor movement, everybody here is a worker, no matter what job you work for or what industry you work for, you’re a worker … This is a class struggle. It’s 99.9% of us versus the one percent class, the billionaires.” Whether you share this view or not. It is a fact that spaces for workers to gather, share information, relax or educate themselves, have become rare. &nbsp; Where do workers in the post-industrial US come together? If companies provide them at all, breakrooms sometimes do not contain much more than some flimsy tables and a coffee vending machine. Workers spending time together is not a priority for employers, and perhaps is considered a threat with regards to unionizing. A good worker is an isolated worker bringing their mere labour to their desk at home, the warehouse, the production plant, or the courier fleet. Their story, their joy, or their everyday sorrows and needs are only of interest if they contribute to the companies’ goals. This disconnection from human needs and brutal pragmatism also shows in another observation by union leader Smalls, criticising that Amazon overlooks and forgets about “the little things … How do people get to work? How do they eat lunch every day?” This show is not going to solve the existential problems that are put on workers’ backs by exploitative companies’ day by day. Instead, it is a reminder that work is not just about labour, but also about sharing much of our lifetime with others, and that it can be also a place of friendship and community. This is not as easy as it sounds when employers limit or even try to suppress any kind of substantial communication among co-workers. KLUB WRKR is an invitation to take a moment to explore ways that could expand the space for gathering, sharing and friendship at your workplace. <img width="1860" height="1490" width_o="1860" height_o="1490" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/838ff738c30e9be7369519a64417b964aff42f02b841c6005da9b1c3c46b643a/IMG_0165-copy.jpg" data-mid="214999674" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/838ff738c30e9be7369519a64417b964aff42f02b841c6005da9b1c3c46b643a/IMG_0165-copy.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/812c68e963f228c7b097bf9deff5743712f9116ac0b57e4931b7de674e89d1c0/IMG_4151-copy.jpg" data-mid="214990214" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/812c68e963f228c7b097bf9deff5743712f9116ac0b57e4931b7de674e89d1c0/IMG_4151-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1908" height="1462" width_o="1908" height_o="1462" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/de9ead0b4ac33ca459809c9b0007e825410a28245f2bbf670e66600537a1b006/IMG_0133.jpg" data-mid="214769754" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/de9ead0b4ac33ca459809c9b0007e825410a28245f2bbf670e66600537a1b006/IMG_0133.jpg" /> <img width="1842" height="1458" width_o="1842" height_o="1458" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3f291e1ed1ab680a7e12e5549b39f1cfd375b28877c8c027057fa30cf49bf108/IMG_0136.jpg" data-mid="214769755" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3f291e1ed1ab680a7e12e5549b39f1cfd375b28877c8c027057fa30cf49bf108/IMG_0136.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3001" width_o="4032" height_o="3001" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0657ab4b763970ec0855e452d41b082228d12cad01a65e143deab93bca2ffd68/IMG_2099.jpg" data-mid="214990213" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0657ab4b763970ec0855e452d41b082228d12cad01a65e143deab93bca2ffd68/IMG_2099.jpg" /> <img width="3229" height="2479" width_o="3229" height_o="2479" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5d9cdadb49c184129ba94d8706302806760541be2d799dfd77d8aa2684580bf/player-1_2.jpg" data-mid="214990311" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a5d9cdadb49c184129ba94d8706302806760541be2d799dfd77d8aa2684580bf/player-1_2.jpg" /> <img width="3229" height="2479" width_o="3229" height_o="2479" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/75c7a687b67cef574f28df0478248bdcf4b81679aacd8302a894fcf5f5d5929b/Video-Game-Still-1.jpg" data-mid="214990314" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/75c7a687b67cef574f28df0478248bdcf4b81679aacd8302a894fcf5f5d5929b/Video-Game-Still-1.jpg" /> <img width="3229" height="2479" width_o="3229" height_o="2479" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7b2200e3d503d1332bd2ba93962f3a2de7d4c54efab5e86b0c878e259e450315/still-3.jpg" data-mid="214990313" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7b2200e3d503d1332bd2ba93962f3a2de7d4c54efab5e86b0c878e259e450315/still-3.jpg" /> <img width="3229" height="2479" width_o="3229" height_o="2479" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fa494859c1da2c6bde44d25c81a700892b2ab214c13179174599e6e2d8afe2e3/still-2.jpg" data-mid="214990312" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fa494859c1da2c6bde44d25c81a700892b2ab214c13179174599e6e2d8afe2e3/still-2.jpg" /> Lupa Rossi, 2024. An opera performed by two players through a split-screen local setup in which one player assumes the role of a human opera singer, and the other, a dog. Oppositional forces of struggle and exploitation which form subjectivity are interrogated through the game itself as well as the arcade apparatus which seats two players across and beside one another. <img width="1825" height="1453" width_o="1825" height_o="1453" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/783a504a55f6493e68c9ae221dd748ebea3aa9e51b34e6dc8a71a638d84bad92/IMG_0163-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="214769756" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/783a504a55f6493e68c9ae221dd748ebea3aa9e51b34e6dc8a71a638d84bad92/IMG_0163-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="1849" height="1343" width_o="1849" height_o="1343" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/856b952e04254a40e992474c412ec0f13f9146ef7236425e72490a90cbd8ed4a/IMG_0169-copy.jpg" data-mid="214990357" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/856b952e04254a40e992474c412ec0f13f9146ef7236425e72490a90cbd8ed4a/IMG_0169-copy.jpg" /> <img width="2860" height="3378" width_o="2860" height_o="3378" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0ff18350f33de180b3ddcc1e6eb93208ae2cf93400e05644952790037589a2af/IMG_3865-copy.jpg" data-mid="228760845" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0ff18350f33de180b3ddcc1e6eb93208ae2cf93400e05644952790037589a2af/IMG_3865-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1357" height="1726" width_o="1357" height_o="1726" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c21879f7be59e1aee6da71b90b6763978298e45505c2652df0f8c1b3ea80f7a/IMG_0170-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769758" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7c21879f7be59e1aee6da71b90b6763978298e45505c2652df0f8c1b3ea80f7a/IMG_0170-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1341" height="1919" width_o="1341" height_o="1919" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7307555187231f6ae2d72ee65847384eaa325aab419c1d5ef91f4a4cb3352846/IMG_0166.jpg" data-mid="230391176" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7307555187231f6ae2d72ee65847384eaa325aab419c1d5ef91f4a4cb3352846/IMG_0166.jpg" /> <img width="3259" height="2656" width_o="3259" height_o="2656" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6880f664ff274cc7493ffab4d9ff9e0b2ccf2cbb3df02d9b9ad11e760443a029/IMG_4094-copy.jpg" data-mid="214989820" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6880f664ff274cc7493ffab4d9ff9e0b2ccf2cbb3df02d9b9ad11e760443a029/IMG_4094-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1283" height="1283" width_o="1283" height_o="1283" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/112666a41ac8cb2befc0d56bc7a7b982cc165c6e64e3289a2ca332f4d42f24b8/IMG_0173.jpg" data-mid="228650183" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/112666a41ac8cb2befc0d56bc7a7b982cc165c6e64e3289a2ca332f4d42f24b8/IMG_0173.jpg" /> <img width="1536" height="2048" width_o="1536" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/56dc0c76c5b3fac497248ced3eff19a3f7665cd3360ff5947752771931c17df8/IMG_0181-copy.jpg" data-mid="228761011" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/56dc0c76c5b3fac497248ced3eff19a3f7665cd3360ff5947752771931c17df8/IMG_0181-copy.jpg" /> Friend of a Friend, 2024. a dialectical karaoke object, broadcasting musical compositions for duet and two-channel video. This platform for cultural reproduction and critique invites participants to perform political economies of friendship as theorized by other cultural workers. Set against popular music, their words offer multiple strategies for comrades who are antagonizing against hegemony. <img width="1856" height="1481" width_o="1856" height_o="1481" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6cccb2793e8762fd419b8f092d9b94326822cc52fd03046aed2e325d4bdfb1a0/IMG_0161-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="214989825" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6cccb2793e8762fd419b8f092d9b94326822cc52fd03046aed2e325d4bdfb1a0/IMG_0161-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="3875" height="2820" width_o="3875" height_o="2820" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/711e3fbd9b018c8c788ded7d7e904e4a8b8df1f2f577449516c96f43c5a30798/IMG_2054-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="214769760" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/711e3fbd9b018c8c788ded7d7e904e4a8b8df1f2f577449516c96f43c5a30798/IMG_2054-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="1305" height="1652" width_o="1305" height_o="1652" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6854898ba767df398a6f78ebc263494c08fe3a4fc3deeb8ac4fdc7c05addfc11/IMG_0190-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="214989818" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6854898ba767df398a6f78ebc263494c08fe3a4fc3deeb8ac4fdc7c05addfc11/IMG_0190-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="1536" height="1536" width_o="1536" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/98eb29b370dbf4d550a9ba203b321f0f79b5758d35694dac07ee3ed86258eeed/IMG_0187-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769759" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/98eb29b370dbf4d550a9ba203b321f0f79b5758d35694dac07ee3ed86258eeed/IMG_0187-copy.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4f3e5113a115fa0fe618291cbef55c507118719a39b38984fe19e3ac19e14b78/IMG_4259-copy.jpg" data-mid="228760785" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4f3e5113a115fa0fe618291cbef55c507118719a39b38984fe19e3ac19e14b78/IMG_4259-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1272" height="1840" width_o="1272" height_o="1840" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b69a85f28d7a3abcb8d75a29c0451f92caa1e20f45071dc07e5f26839026a2f/IMG_0186-copy.jpg" data-mid="214990321" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b69a85f28d7a3abcb8d75a29c0451f92caa1e20f45071dc07e5f26839026a2f/IMG_0186-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1536" height="2048" width_o="1536" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6dea27525699876131d7eed0289d34c2ecf5ef6c0c03248a4600208c3a411117/IMG_3868-copy.jpg" data-mid="214769774" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6dea27525699876131d7eed0289d34c2ecf5ef6c0c03248a4600208c3a411117/IMG_3868-copy.jpg" /> <img width="1503" height="1971" width_o="1503" height_o="1971" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/86e9a35948c90fb692bc24e69b897a6b8e776e1278a76df6f933acf08f518ca1/IMG_0240-copy.jpg" data-mid="214990339" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/86e9a35948c90fb692bc24e69b897a6b8e776e1278a76df6f933acf08f518ca1/IMG_0240-copy.jpg" /> Comrade Hotline, 2024. Re-wired soviet telephone, folding lounge chair and side table, and contracted labor with Real Friends LLC, Tim Tsang’s friend-for-hire service, providing nurturing friendships through sincere human presence. <img width="1965" height="1145" width_o="1965" height_o="1145" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5853c551b4ba590f147d10ddf24483243d4ec0bb85f071152cd0ce98eee961b0/IMG_0211-copy_2.jpg" data-mid="215291070" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5853c551b4ba590f147d10ddf24483243d4ec0bb85f071152cd0ce98eee961b0/IMG_0211-copy_2.jpg" /> <img width="1609" height="900" width_o="1609" height_o="900" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c28c0bac15fad66e9693e1601efe4f45ffc57de1a3c11d00c2568b1c2458661e/sAJBXo.png" data-mid="215291060" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c28c0bac15fad66e9693e1601efe4f45ffc57de1a3c11d00c2568b1c2458661e/sAJBXo.png" /> <img width="1607" height="897" width_o="1607" height_o="897" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/34806c20cabc42620c11892524137a915b1734139a94b960f8404817887f1bfb/15qIUg.png" data-mid="215291059" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/34806c20cabc42620c11892524137a915b1734139a94b960f8404817887f1bfb/15qIUg.png" /> <img width="1604" height="898" width_o="1604" height_o="898" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5ccc47584d292c6307bbe2637feb8e53219118f0292a72957ddb1761b74de2f/9Mp1QL.png" data-mid="215291058" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a5ccc47584d292c6307bbe2637feb8e53219118f0292a72957ddb1761b74de2f/9Mp1QL.png" /> <img width="1608" height="900" width_o="1608" height_o="900" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abe435f35e630856eaf6e574423039c2281de1c21309012d0bfc620ebab06af9/STmB7G.png" data-mid="215291057" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/abe435f35e630856eaf6e574423039c2281de1c21309012d0bfc620ebab06af9/STmB7G.png" /> On the occation of KLUB WRKR’s activation at LIKELIKE in Pittsburgh, Paolo Pedercini built an interactive model of Alexander Rodchenko’s Workers' Club, that he designed and built for the 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Modern Industry in Paris. Paolo’s game, Meet Me at the Worker’s Club, traveled with KLUB WRKR across the country and can be played through the following link:&nbsp;https://molleindustria.itch.io/meet-me-at-the-workers-club Acknowledgement I am profoundly grateful for the support I received while making KLUB WRKR. Chloe Munkenbeck, thank you for being my partner and for many conversations throughout the development of this project, as well as lending your software superpowers. Charles Gaines and Roxana Landaverde, you are life-changing people. Thank you for believing in my work and for your extraordinary generosity and hospitality sponsoring the project. Kent Young of council_st I am inspired by your project and your life. It was a real gift to become friends through this project and to be so well cared for. Thanks to the friends new and old we met along the way: Paolo, Tenley and Heather at LIKELIKE, Dan at monk parakeet, Jacob and the whole crew at inga books, Jerry, Nina and Matthew at Axle Contemporary. Sara Pereira da Silva and Big Dance Theater, thank you for providing so many materials to make with, and for lending your performance talents to the project. Annika Haas your thoughtful and insightful words, collaboration and friendship spanning years and an Atlantic Ocean are deeply cherished. Andre Keichian I can’t imagine life without you. Thank you for checking-in, coaxing your star of a dog, and your unyielding thoughtfulness. Tim Tsang my comrade. Thank you for being a real friend in every sense. I miss you and I’m so happy your conversations and keys could travel with us across the country. Jen Vanselow thank you for giving voice to lupa rossi, it is exquisite. Rudy Schultz it sounds incredible. Finally, Will Lee, thank you for taking this wager and for being a brilliant friend, collaborator, and traveling companion. I’m so grateful for the chance to do this trip together and the game is far beyond what I thought possible.KLUB WRKR was made possible with the generous support of an Emergency Grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Art. https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/friend-of-the-program Mon, 17 Jul 2023 17:04:19 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/friend-of-the-program <img width="3688" height="2737" width_o="3688" height_o="2737" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/20f634fcfb9864f456200cc5badd642f24cc9ad1c61aafbc91d346a32f4f32d0/01.jpg" data-mid="221109440" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/20f634fcfb9864f456200cc5badd642f24cc9ad1c61aafbc91d346a32f4f32d0/01.jpg" /> <img width="4800" height="3840" width_o="4800" height_o="3840" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c093e4c61627c0f70df0ae6c0cf350e8957033cd080bc9cd075534a74bae51bc/Whitney_ISP__O0A3321.jpg" data-mid="189399151" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c093e4c61627c0f70df0ae6c0cf350e8957033cd080bc9cd075534a74bae51bc/Whitney_ISP__O0A3321.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1118" width_o="1500" height_o="1118" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/df3af66b06b5bb577a9fd24fdf440b2745ee1cc4a394bc01b90dc92c5573e31f/fotp_h_02.jpg" data-mid="185677187" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/df3af66b06b5bb577a9fd24fdf440b2745ee1cc4a394bc01b90dc92c5573e31f/fotp_h_02.jpg" /> <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d32b0f7225ecbb8b498c82047be1d07d0628a66989408d3fca6e6ed0004562fc/IMG_0982.jpg" data-mid="228650283" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d32b0f7225ecbb8b498c82047be1d07d0628a66989408d3fca6e6ed0004562fc/IMG_0982.jpg" /> <img width="750" height="1000" width_o="750" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0c9911343cc1b15c32571194df4ab862ebd631e30b2deb6e931c437255d2e18b/fotp_v_03_1000px.jpg" data-mid="186583369" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/750/i/0c9911343cc1b15c32571194df4ab862ebd631e30b2deb6e931c437255d2e18b/fotp_v_03_1000px.jpg" /> <img width="750" height="1000" width_o="750" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/92e96dbc60d72093d7dfb2cb910be2d55f8589fc4aa6eecdbb77867e5343db15/fotp_v_02_1000px.jpg" data-mid="186583370" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/750/i/92e96dbc60d72093d7dfb2cb910be2d55f8589fc4aa6eecdbb77867e5343db15/fotp_v_02_1000px.jpg" /> <img width="5106" height="3535" width_o="5106" height_o="3535" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3deb28b0dee1061445b963af283d64d23cd2ce52af439a0788968cc8c8fe7d9b/IMG_4290.jpg" data-mid="228651521" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3deb28b0dee1061445b963af283d64d23cd2ce52af439a0788968cc8c8fe7d9b/IMG_4290.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1197" width_o="1500" height_o="1197" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61ffb9bd95e71471591f7daed75bcdbc0a04995df8b4dc11699c3a2f490840e6/fotp_h_04.jpg" data-mid="185677182" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61ffb9bd95e71471591f7daed75bcdbc0a04995df8b4dc11699c3a2f490840e6/fotp_h_04.jpg" /> Friend of the Program, after Rodchenko 2023 Musical composition for duet, two-channel video, video performance object, stage curtains, neon Dimensions variable This work was exhibited as part of: No Necessary Correspondence Whitney Independent Study Program 100 Lafayette Street, 8th Floor New York, NY, 10003 May 17—28 Tuesday—Sunday, 12-6pm This work was made possible through the participation of the following interlocuters: Hal Foster, Tim Tsang, Andrea Fraser, B Neimeth, Alfredo Jaar, Andre Keichian, Matthew Lax, Mark Nash, Nyeema Morgan, Emma Roberts, Mary Kelly, Mary Coyne, Coco Fusco, Joestine Con-ui, Silvia Federici, Liang Luscombe, Nora Alter, Carmen Amengual, Sharon Hayes, Haynes Riley, David Harvey, Chloe Munkenbeck, Soyoung Yoon, Ali Aschman, Gregg Bordowitz, Kioto Aoki, Adam Feldmeth, Will Lee, Kelly Xi. Thank you, Ron. <img width="1920" height="540" width_o="1920" height_o="540" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0e1ddf9b65fb2b64574feee0403bdcf0f69ad1002b0bc9ec07cdef8467f96134/fotp_lyrics.jpg" data-mid="188133159" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0e1ddf9b65fb2b64574feee0403bdcf0f69ad1002b0bc9ec07cdef8467f96134/fotp_lyrics.jpg" /> &nbsp; Friend of the Program catalog essay<img width="2182" height="1565" width_o="2182" height_o="1565" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f7062ad36c1f73461dbf4bf5a510f8aaa89772426eb5e4965d6702d87f4bd3df/ISP_Studio_2023_No_Necessary_Correspondence_Catalogue-1.jpg" data-mid="185884303" border="0" data-scale="96" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f7062ad36c1f73461dbf4bf5a510f8aaa89772426eb5e4965d6702d87f4bd3df/ISP_Studio_2023_No_Necessary_Correspondence_Catalogue-1.jpg" />The first essay written in France was also a love letter for a friend who had died.1 What a comfort that Montaigne didn’t choose one form over the other. I came to New York to leave Chicago. I lost a friend there named Gregory Bae, an artist’s artist. I didn’t like what the city was like without him. That doesn’t really say it right but hopefully you can understand how I felt. I didn’t like facing daily social life without him. I hadn’t realized how much I relied on the community between us. I arrived in early September, one of twenty-two participants of the heavily mythologized Independent Study Program, in its final year at 100 Lafayette under the direction of Ron Clark. Within a couple of weeks two aspects of the program had come into focus. First, this thing is theater; a didactic play in a state of constant reproduction that has been sustained more or less this way since the early ’80s, complete with a stage manager/director/narrator and a cast who are ushered on and off stage to perform biweekly seminars. Second, a central organizing framework of the ISP are the friends of the program. These committed social relations spanning decades sustain this historical intervention, at times beyond the lifespans of its comrades. Being an artist can often feel clumsy, stumbling around in the dark so to speak, hoping to bump into an idea or co-conspirator to navigate that space of unknowing with. Greg made a show in the dining room of my apartment during (at his request) the coldest, darkest month of 2019. Black Hole of Love ⁄ 사랑의블랙홀 was a constellation of poetic experiments attempting to freeze time. Greg magnetized an atomic clock’s second hand, placing it in a relentless and futile effort to move forward, a kind of tiny quiet purgatory. The clock’s glass face had been meticulously etched and painted to resemble an array of rain droplets, mimicking in great detail the ones Greg noticed on the porthole window of the plane that would eventually take him back to the U.S. while it sat on the tarmac of the Seoul airport. Greg was losing a love at the time, and leaving a place of deep significance. He referred to this show as a response to losing love and indulging in that loss, saying, “a cosmic indifferent force will not yield to anyone’s heart. The desire to stop time is, nevertheless, as egotistical as it is romantic.” <img width="1141" height="753" width_o="1141" height_o="753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/18f6fddcb1ab66b223598795475a50ff388f7254641327dc8a1ab12c2e74bb40/ISP_Studio_2023_No_Necessary_Correspondence_Catalogue-2.jpg" data-mid="185884315" border="0" data-scale="95" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/18f6fddcb1ab66b223598795475a50ff388f7254641327dc8a1ab12c2e74bb40/ISP_Studio_2023_No_Necessary_Correspondence_Catalogue-2.jpg" /> The only worthwhile reason to make art, or to do anything for that matter, is to make friends. I suspect there might be something worth noticing between the effort to freeze time and the effort of cultural reproduction. Maybe it’s something about revolution. Perhaps it has to do with a notion of community or belonging. In either case there is loss. We’ve certainly been grieving. Karaoke is a form of theater that most everyone has experienced in one form or another. Performed for friends and yet-to-be friends alike, it can be done in earnest or in biting irony. It’s a chance to participate in cultural reproduction and criticality. It is also usually fun. Just before the pandemic, Greg and his partner Ali came over to my flat in Chicago. We shared a few drinks late into the night which led to a spontaneous series of YouTube karaoke duets. I often think about Alexander Rodchenko’s Workers' Club, that he designed and built for the 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Modern Industry in Paris, just after Lenin had died in the fever of paranoia and optimism between two world wars. Designed as an optimal space for workers to engage in self-education and cultural leisure activities including chess, I wonder what activities Rodchenko would incorporate had he designed it a century later. Perhaps he would make a dialectical karaoke machine where the chess table had been, a platform for cultural reproduction and critique, where participants could perform the words of other cultural workers set against popular melodies, comrades antagonizing hegemony. I suspect they’d all be duets if not full choral situations. For the past several months I’ve asked our faculty, several generations of critical cultural workers and friends of the program, to reflect on the politics of friendship in relation to their work at the Independent Study Program. Concurrently I’ve asked my own friends, with whom I have established mutual commitments, to identify their favorite political karaoke songs. They have interpreted ‘political’ and ‘karaoke’ on their own terms. I’ve overlayed the faculty’s transcribed reflections as lyrics to these songs, played through a two-channel karaoke machine designed in the style of Rodchenko’s chess table, in a performance-architecture remodeling the workers club into KLUB WRKR. The intimacy of friendship lies in the sensation of recognizing oneself in the eyes of another. Friendship for the deceased thus carries this philía to the limit of its possibility. But at the same time, it uncovers the ultimate spring of this possibility: I could not love friendship without projecting its impetus towards the horizon of this death. The horizon is the limit and the absence of limit, the loss of the horizon on the horizon, the ahorizontality of the horizon, the limit as absence of limit. I could not love friendship without engaging myself, without feeling myself in advance engaged to love the other beyond death.2 Our friends are often made heroes when they die. I suspect this is some sort of attempt to cope with their absence or to honor them. We fear they will be forgotten so we make them monuments. This happens all-too-often when these friends are cultural workers, and in some cases it happens before they’ve died. Institutions clamor to preserve their so-called “authenticity,” as if they had never been dynamic contradictory beings. Brecht’s words through the mouth of Galileo have particular utility here, in a way I find fitting as Brecht himself has been made a monument. “Unhappy is the land that needs heroes,”3 Galileo reminds his former student. Monuments can’t speak and they certainly can’t sing. We can. We can see ourselves in an other’s words as we perform them, we can take them up or reject them, offering inflection and interpretation that may have been absent in previous renditions, and we can offer something far more interesting than kindness as we lend our criticality and participation. Michel de Montaigne, “That Men by Various Ways Arrive at the Same End” in Essais (Simon Millanges, Jean Richer, 1580), 1. Jacques Derrida, “Oligarchies: Naming, Enumerating, Counting” in The Politics of Friendship (Verso, 1993), 12. Bertolt Brecht, “Scene 12” in Life of Galileo (Grove Press, 1966), 115. https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/untitled-billboard-generic-love Mon, 17 Jul 2023 19:32:05 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/untitled-billboard-generic-love <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ec99ce3c88803e708561d42511154be01dff4467698353b587d635a85db1d23d/IMG_4428.jpg" data-mid="228761237" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ec99ce3c88803e708561d42511154be01dff4467698353b587d635a85db1d23d/IMG_4428.jpg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/91814240a72fc69dbc506dea855ad866f6360ee922f61c0fe72ed95476c704c2/IMG_4423.jpg" data-mid="228761236" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/91814240a72fc69dbc506dea855ad866f6360ee922f61c0fe72ed95476c704c2/IMG_4423.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1501" width_o="1280" height_o="1501" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc87b60d242ff4a6097917a128b28eed365720828fe5fd067960fe4ab273a77c/tumblr_52782b3567c89a6cdeb7dcfc87912fca_2766527d_1280.jpg" data-mid="185525326" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cc87b60d242ff4a6097917a128b28eed365720828fe5fd067960fe4ab273a77c/tumblr_52782b3567c89a6cdeb7dcfc87912fca_2766527d_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1707" width_o="1280" height_o="1707" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a9f2bab6a555ce7f35b77bc25334d13b174913ac64fe3546704d274914aa0241/tumblr_9fbff7619b801b6940853df38e740ec5_f3a93911_1280.jpg" data-mid="185525323" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a9f2bab6a555ce7f35b77bc25334d13b174913ac64fe3546704d274914aa0241/tumblr_9fbff7619b801b6940853df38e740ec5_f3a93911_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1707" width_o="1280" height_o="1707" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/62ce40cfa26302fd9d84a82bbb75e64095fe0b04a7e7d40d6701489586038ee1/tumblr_8db6f773b90c3d1731c3af071933b369_7e82e648_1280.jpg" data-mid="185525322" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/62ce40cfa26302fd9d84a82bbb75e64095fe0b04a7e7d40d6701489586038ee1/tumblr_8db6f773b90c3d1731c3af071933b369_7e82e648_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1723" width_o="1280" height_o="1723" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1ee0f3f8107e9bae8e349b02de3d9f3f565d5f995ee1c6eb4a83fd5e6f65d3ed/tumblr_5378f031c383da0981c30c1ff85eaa33_4b84f325_1280.jpg" data-mid="185525325" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1ee0f3f8107e9bae8e349b02de3d9f3f565d5f995ee1c6eb4a83fd5e6f65d3ed/tumblr_5378f031c383da0981c30c1ff85eaa33_4b84f325_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1715" width_o="1280" height_o="1715" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/97c923bf13f990d82e52a9932b104bfc4c88fc95f6a8641031ae29369c5a1926/tumblr_dabdf96cca3f1b204ab55ac77989bcf5_b46cc9a1_1280.jpg" data-mid="185525327" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/97c923bf13f990d82e52a9932b104bfc4c88fc95f6a8641031ae29369c5a1926/tumblr_dabdf96cca3f1b204ab55ac77989bcf5_b46cc9a1_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1707" width_o="1280" height_o="1707" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ca9dbb413ecf0052a29d33c7d783d0d9c2738bda8f776cacdf66adc0a195194b/tumblr_887ff913ec30b8d97bc4b65f6eee4495_a9cbe1bf_1280.jpg" data-mid="185525324" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ca9dbb413ecf0052a29d33c7d783d0d9c2738bda8f776cacdf66adc0a195194b/tumblr_887ff913ec30b8d97bc4b65f6eee4495_a9cbe1bf_1280.jpg" /> untitled billboard (generic love) 2023 Commissioned for the Billboard of Feiertag Gallery in Kassel, Germany. This printed image is of a drawing of a love letter. I wrote a love letter in English and asked Malte Stiehl to translate it into German. I then made a drawing of a photograph of his translation and the surface of his desk where the translated letter rested. This drawing was then photographed and used as the image for the billboard. The following text is what I asked Malte to translate: This is a printed image of a drawing of a love letter, it is not love itself, it is a printed image of a drawing of a love letter. I decided to love you, and this is a sincere attempt to produce something as close to that experience as I can in the forms of image, language, and representation. I thought if I presented a love letter, its conventional form might unconsciously inspire suspicion, and it would be quite small and hard to read outdoors on a billboard. So, I decided to make a drawing of a love letter instead and photograph it. I don’t know how to read or write in German, so I wrote a love letter in English and sent it to Malte. This is a printed image of a drawing of a love letter he wrote in German, translated from the one in English that I sent to him. I did this so you’d know I am sincere. I love you. I am uncertain of how to do this, and what it fully means to do so. This love letter addresses you, a reader, from a voice that is presumably mine, an author, but in the end it will be ideal if we face the challenges of this age in relation, blurring solitary and solidary, beyond resistance to transformation. The end could be a revolutionary becoming, a beloved community. I love you. You are miraculous. I love you because I am compelled to - when an experience, a kind of chance encounter takes place with a person, a brilliant alive explosive sensitive thoughtful being, love is what makes sense. It is chaotic, it is uncertain, and its absence, in the wake of lust for power or anxiety, is the depths of pain. I don’t know if I will ever understand you or be understood by you, but I love you. I love sharing with you. You have an intent observation and focus that makes me feel like you are truly interested in me and care about what I think and how I feel. I have been changed by our relation, because you decided to care about me, to be patient with me and to teach me. Thank you for being my teacher. You are thoughtfully open, protecting our experience from shame or humiliation. I have witnessed you practice love when you don’t want to or don’t feel love. Thank you, receiving this practice has helped me heal wounds and mindfully consider the future we are creating. Kindness and love are not the same thing. Love requires us to be honest together, to be courageous and confrontational when harm is enacted. The conflict we’ve experienced together and the process of addressing it is more important than language can signify. The depth of love is found in this place. There was so much fear before that confrontation, and anger for the hurt that had been done. We didn’t ignore it or flee. We fought. It is such a gift to experience and witness that courage and awkwardness and vulnerability and anxiety in transforming. Our relation strengthens our courage, our openness, and vulnerability. It reminds us that we are never alone. It can be extraordinarily difficult to trust people and love is terrifying. Thank you. Thank you for loving me, for showing me safety and openness, for giving me a place to rest, for caring for me when I have been despairing and brokenhearted and lonely and ill. You fed me, you clothed me, you gave me life, you taught me what relation is, you taught me to face fear and injustice, you taught me how to be goodness. In this way truth becomes true through community. If we attempt language communication without love we are sound with no meaning. If we possess knowledge and an understanding of reality, with courage and power, but lack love, we have nothing. If we give everything away to people who are suffering, but do not have love, our gift has no goodness. We’re not writing about a sentimental feeling, we’re not writing about an affectionate type of love. We’re writing about a love that is a creative, understanding belief in everybody. A love that isn’t given in exchange for anything. Love is a refusal of value. Love is generic, outside of buying or selling. Love begins to love everybody because we remarkably exist, not because we are likable. Love is like trusting in a better time unfolding, love is sometimes like kindness. It is liberation from jealousy, from insecurity, from narcissism. It is in awe of some kind of dignity in all spacetimematter throughout the universe, it is liberation from the terror of trying to survive, it is even-tempered, it forgives people. Love is a proclamation and a party for transcendent becoming. Love is life, together. https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/For-Spacious-Skies Mon, 17 Jul 2023 19:32:48 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/For-Spacious-Skies for spacious skies2022 The entire history of Quattrocento perspectives is only ever a story of struggle, of the battle of geometers vying to make us forget the ‘high’ and the ‘low’ by pushing the ‘near’ and the ‘far’, a vanishing-point that literally fascinated them, even though our vision is actually determined by our weight and oriented by the pull of earth’s gravity, by the classic distinction between zenith and nadir. The original reference point for sight is therefore not what the Italian masters said it was, that of vanishing lines converging on the horizon, but one bound up with the delicate balancing act of a universal attraction which imposes on us its gearing towards the centre of the earth, at the risk of our falling. 1 for spacious skies, is an aesthetic field of oblique conversations performed on a player piano that was built in Chicago during a global pandemic which came to be called “The Spanish Flu.” The work is housed within a tarpaulin architecture configured to force a single-point perspective. Research media and the piano’s sound are deployed through the player piano’s apparatus, which interprets a series of drawings I produced of five public monuments that were erected in Chicago between 1889 -1933. A central symbol of inquiry in this exhibition is the fascio, a bundle of sticks. This symbol adorns public monuments to US Presidents Washington and Lincoln, as well as monuments to Mussolini and Columbus. What is at root in the compulsion to gather things together and bind? The fascio is used as a metaphor for people. “Together we are strong,”2 Æsop fabled, but are these sticks conscious of their bondage? Why would one consent to a promise of strength at the expense of their agency to be free? This site-responsive work meditates on various ideologies of empire that play and have played in shaping Chicago’s visual culture and perspective, as well as how symbols, figures, and monuments are deployed throughout time, with political conditions shifting around and underneath them. What would perspective be had a horizon not been invented? What would existence feel like without the construction of frontier mythologies? Without places to ‘discover’? What futures awaken when orientation becomes suspect? What do we make of it if upside-down, north, and ‘western’ become untrustworthy? Here is cosmos. Here is life, together. Here is open sky. Paul Virilio, Open Sky (London, New York: Verso, 2008), 01-02. Æsop, “The Bundle of Sticks, Æsop for Children” presented by the Library of Congress http://read.gov/aesop/040.html <img width="1280" height="854" width_o="1280" height_o="854" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/242986013b2738af9e8dfd7f21a18e1805d7b01526169027ea237e82b60800e7/tumblr_2d7ef7fbf4d8ff030edfd7c4238a4dfd_7c43f756_1280.jpg" data-mid="185533716" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/242986013b2738af9e8dfd7f21a18e1805d7b01526169027ea237e82b60800e7/tumblr_2d7ef7fbf4d8ff030edfd7c4238a4dfd_7c43f756_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="854" width_o="1280" height_o="854" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4f036bb8751d62bea01d92ed228f1398811d646622a796acb7209a865d5a7d90/tumblr_44484a343b67cd26d71b198ecd4f137a_e5ebfe56_1280.jpg" data-mid="185533734" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4f036bb8751d62bea01d92ed228f1398811d646622a796acb7209a865d5a7d90/tumblr_44484a343b67cd26d71b198ecd4f137a_e5ebfe56_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1918" width_o="1280" height_o="1918" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/397b081f099ab027fa6b410f11038d2307474819650184d2523209e88de36a96/tumblr_fa80494ed5d3e28223b892df1c713127_162f4652_1280.jpg" data-mid="185533780" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/397b081f099ab027fa6b410f11038d2307474819650184d2523209e88de36a96/tumblr_fa80494ed5d3e28223b892df1c713127_162f4652_1280.jpg" /> <img width="2054" height="1328" width_o="2054" height_o="1328" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/581bb4023774aefe2df728311a7c0d142b3a2f971bdfa3ce4360233bf9ce0fb8/027_KBJ.JPG" data-mid="240145157" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/581bb4023774aefe2df728311a7c0d142b3a2f971bdfa3ce4360233bf9ce0fb8/027_KBJ.JPG" /> <img width="2500" height="1652" width_o="2500" height_o="1652" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/31fe5d96a9a6d65f27d1d74b4d0ddd709f8dfe4fbea6e6b6619bb65fd55bc600/03_BellucciJohanson.jpg" data-mid="221109225" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5ec7684888c2743ed211ffb1ea674c59f190056a779bb44f014dff3b3f208d68/055_KBJ.JPG" data-mid="228765764" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5ec7684888c2743ed211ffb1ea674c59f190056a779bb44f014dff3b3f208d68/055_KBJ.JPG" /> <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f3ac85f05f2841f8c9d409e49400b8904075370080b7912b64a54758db501c9b/054_KBJ.JPG" data-mid="228765763" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f3ac85f05f2841f8c9d409e49400b8904075370080b7912b64a54758db501c9b/054_KBJ.JPG" /> <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/43946f4aecb45d3765ae08dd1b3c34c64e98ec316b0f16558ebfca74353e9f4a/053_KBJ.JPG" data-mid="228765762" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/43946f4aecb45d3765ae08dd1b3c34c64e98ec316b0f16558ebfca74353e9f4a/053_KBJ.JPG" /> <img width="2000" height="1334" width_o="2000" height_o="1334" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ecba78275bb78d49b9d28bcf7a397574cc4c0d25bc49c8913c25515d577f686f/01.jpg" data-mid="221096957" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ecba78275bb78d49b9d28bcf7a397574cc4c0d25bc49c8913c25515d577f686f/01.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1919" width_o="1280" height_o="1919" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/59be8a17d6221b9d86e34589720a747630628d57defe297fa84276e2bf8b0aba/tumblr_223a5fbb1cd03caf2720322ff61ac9a5_ee916e0c_1280.jpg" data-mid="221109196" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/59be8a17d6221b9d86e34589720a747630628d57defe297fa84276e2bf8b0aba/tumblr_223a5fbb1cd03caf2720322ff61ac9a5_ee916e0c_1280.jpg" /> <img width="4501" height="6748" width_o="4501" height_o="6748" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8fe6ddf8ba01c6bc2df97567e1bf4df7f75670954c940433b24953c642d7cb4a/049_KBJ_2.jpg" data-mid="228766419" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8fe6ddf8ba01c6bc2df97567e1bf4df7f75670954c940433b24953c642d7cb4a/049_KBJ_2.jpg" /> <img width="4501" height="6748" width_o="4501" height_o="6748" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2460f572b266d72e84628a65844702f404ad3d2bdbd3668dd9e6a3dc9aa3b6b/049_KBJ-copy.jpg" data-mid="228766497" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d2460f572b266d72e84628a65844702f404ad3d2bdbd3668dd9e6a3dc9aa3b6b/049_KBJ-copy.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="1409" width_o="2500" height_o="1409" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9726a98e73b99c097abe0adfbf4a691141d85af6addef989ad5849a83830a29b/051_KBJ.jpg" data-mid="228766509" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9726a98e73b99c097abe0adfbf4a691141d85af6addef989ad5849a83830a29b/051_KBJ.jpg" /> Materials: Plastic tarpaulin architecture Kimball upright player piano, manufactured in Chicago IL, 1918 Laser-cut and graphite drawing on player piano roll paper Projected media scored by the piano roll drawing. Cyanotype plan for a monument to American shame Livestream video of open sky housed in the piano’s player roll window ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thank you to Chris Wood, for brilliantly programming the digital media in this project and for realizing what otherwise would have only lived in my imagination. Adam Feldmeth, thank you for flying to Chicago for a week of durational discourse and critique. Your generosity of time, research, and thoughtfulness is singular. Thank you to Kioto Aoki, an uncommon and deeply thoughtful person, for offering to carefully scan my family’s archive of damaged and fragile 8mm films. Finally, to my uncle Francesco ‘Frank’ Bellucci, thank you for finding and delivering the antique piano on which this entire work was composed, for the 8mm films made of and by my grandfather Raffaelo, and for sharing many meals and an oral history of our family’s immigration and life in Chicago. This show was dedicated to Gregory Bae, whose legacy of bravery, sensitivity, and care ceaselessly encourages me to look up. Image Credit: Robert Chase Heishman https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/untitled-radical-hospitality-and-its-constant-gardeners Mon, 17 Jul 2023 19:33:06 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/untitled-radical-hospitality-and-its-constant-gardeners <img width="2222" height="1250" width_o="2222" height_o="1250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c4f1427153fde6439e0f4334da75ca49f6430bd5aac94dd3d4250cdd7eeca538/010.jpg" data-mid="240199917" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c4f1427153fde6439e0f4334da75ca49f6430bd5aac94dd3d4250cdd7eeca538/010.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1707" width_o="1280" height_o="1707" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/feb10be8d43c5107a4b36ffb3fd12d918b640c219ba7ccb0d75bb5bcc0b8b6aa/tumblr_6019faf887219f3565b2102ace315316_f5e0a588_1280.jpg" data-mid="185882811" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/feb10be8d43c5107a4b36ffb3fd12d918b640c219ba7ccb0d75bb5bcc0b8b6aa/tumblr_6019faf887219f3565b2102ace315316_f5e0a588_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="960" width_o="1280" height_o="960" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/851e95bff8b24b509b754986623708caabba3367e0e1982c63ac976086ccfdf5/tumblr_76012d2be4372cfe79df0e49445d4372_bb2eb5dd_1280-2.jpg" data-mid="185882814" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/851e95bff8b24b509b754986623708caabba3367e0e1982c63ac976086ccfdf5/tumblr_76012d2be4372cfe79df0e49445d4372_bb2eb5dd_1280-2.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="1453" width_o="1280" height_o="1453" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd2c381531e5fd5bf06227cfb7e24e74ad603772afec1afcca1af32f77991d51/tumblr_751f157cf23517d0aa10c0f52d37aae1_0c7165b9_1280.jpg" data-mid="185882817" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fd2c381531e5fd5bf06227cfb7e24e74ad603772afec1afcca1af32f77991d51/tumblr_751f157cf23517d0aa10c0f52d37aae1_0c7165b9_1280.jpg" /> untitled (“radical hospitality” and its constant gardeners) 2021 97”x322” The artwork is an edge-to-edge floor installation of coir fiber door mats, arranged in a grid with printed text on each mat stating “WELCOME” in black ink. Subtexts and less kind sentiments are also printed within the fibers of the mats in flourescent blue fertilized grass seed, revealing the obscured language, rituals of hospitality, and passive-aggressive behaviors that historically and today remain as constant gardeners of white supremacy, and veiled gatekeepers to resources and equity. This work was commissioned for curator Asha Iman Veal’s exhibition RAISIN, a partner program of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. The exhibition took place within a three-story house on a residential block in a formerly all-white, now integrated, neighborhood in Chicago. Inspired by themes from the Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun (1959), the exhibition features artworks created by 37 Chicago and international artists, offering local and global perspectives on “home.” The exhibition is structured on three levels, in direct relation to the architecture of the dilapidated mansion: artists on the first floor offer direct responses to the Hansberry play; the second-floor artworks bring forth nostalgic memories of home; and the third-floor installations interrogate home as a place of identity-based violence. Each artist explores wider themes as well, such as first-time homeownership, gender dynamics within communities of color, generational dreams, and more. In 1959, Hansberry’s original A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway. In this seminal work, Hansberry wrote about the Youngers, a fictional Black American family in Chicago forced to debate their options for self-determination within a race-biased country, and whether to move to an affordable yet segregated neighborhood where they will not be welcome. For the past 60 years the play has been produced in cities around the world—shifting in nuance based on the context of various locales. From the historical violence of residential segregation within the United States, to widespread migration opposition across Europe, to regionalism and class inequality in China. Making history, A Raisin in the Sun was translated into 30 languages soon after its first staging. Hansberry’s narrative serves as the RAISIN inspiration, as well as a departure point for exploring a multiplicity of experiences and conversations. https://raisin6018.org Image Credit: Kim Becker https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/resigning-to-immanent-becoming Tue, 18 Jul 2023 02:11:05 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/resigning-to-immanent-becoming <img width="5964" height="4059" width_o="5964" height_o="4059" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ee9c780ebe4e84f80addfa6a1e75bff0701cb18c8521b2109cb231c73c7d0f93/Johanson_Resignation_2021_graphite-and-ceramic-on-bristol_15x22x4.jpg" data-mid="207842988" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ee9c780ebe4e84f80addfa6a1e75bff0701cb18c8521b2109cb231c73c7d0f93/Johanson_Resignation_2021_graphite-and-ceramic-on-bristol_15x22x4.jpg" /> <img width="7640" height="5096" width_o="7640" height_o="5096" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc7a06996c2a61fa288df8edff5ebff5035ea37caea4323e3295bc2563703521/26.jpg" data-mid="207843143" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dc7a06996c2a61fa288df8edff5ebff5035ea37caea4323e3295bc2563703521/26.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="835" width_o="1280" height_o="835" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6800e82a37dbca9d6d7af5a1b9bc1037f4f058656046241957aa392d6f77d802/tumblr_7371e2e2194f11e97121e0b641bfffa0_dfc7a3d9_1280.jpg" data-mid="185539306" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6800e82a37dbca9d6d7af5a1b9bc1037f4f058656046241957aa392d6f77d802/tumblr_7371e2e2194f11e97121e0b641bfffa0_dfc7a3d9_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="885" width_o="1280" height_o="885" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a3e20665452f7e897ff0b87f42319f3b4d9f0a9f17fdf2b4487c21cb88ce352/tumblr_fa99726fc944caaca427619ffb435599_452c2cca_1280.jpg" data-mid="185539312" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a3e20665452f7e897ff0b87f42319f3b4d9f0a9f17fdf2b4487c21cb88ce352/tumblr_fa99726fc944caaca427619ffb435599_452c2cca_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1707" height="1280" width_o="1707" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4a33d2552758384d035c7ea727dfb188204520450774323a175e2f519f88f628/tumblr_993b99a40f0c420b65c980695b5b027d_d58d640f_1280.jpg" data-mid="221188940" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4a33d2552758384d035c7ea727dfb188204520450774323a175e2f519f88f628/tumblr_993b99a40f0c420b65c980695b5b027d_d58d640f_1280.jpg" /> resigning to immanent becoming 2021 Graphite drawing, Nostradamus (a super-positioning stone for scrying spacetimematter of a universe after capitalism) 15” x 22” x 4” The resignation letter reads as follows: Whom It May Concern Human Resources ART VVORLD Dear Whom It May Concern, I regret to inform you that I should like to tender my resignation as Professional Artist effective immediately. I hereby give notice of my intention to leave ART. Attached to this email you’ll find a thing that came to me several years ago from the future. At the time of its arrival in the spring of A.D. 2016 I recall intense feelings of hopelessness and optimism. This is a thing with utility and poetic content. A relic (of) immanent becoming. Nostradamus, a super-positioning stone for scrying spacetimematter of a universe after capitalism, is the past and future collapsed and clandestine, hidden in a past of when ‘becoming’ is, arriving from some medieval future. A before and after subjects and objects. When there is no longer any hope, what is to be done with optimism? How might it be used? There is no future of your ways of occupying and territorializing time and space and matter, and no future for us who, through planned obsolescence, have been inflated into useless surplus people. Our thoughts and labor have no value, and our identities are exchanged more lucratively than gold, oil, wine, and paintings. We’ve undergone a conversion, transmogrified by His Eminence, Father Milton, who made us Human Capital in exchange for our dignity. We can never be enough to be desirable and there will never be enough of us to possess. Artists might understand this horror story more intimately. Many of us have professed to be prophets for a profit, articulating and situating culture, politics, theory, and belief; and letting them be sold at auction for some bread. Nobody studies art to learn how to write professional e-mails. Drawing this resignation is absurd. There is no authority to address, no Chief Executive Officer of the ART VVORLD, and if there is he has done a very thorough job of hiding. If ART is not interested in, or capable of, facilitating emancipation and community, while posturing as if it is, resignation becomes the only rational posture one can take. Resigning from ART, and resigning to a non-art that is not necessarily not there. We have already been made ghosts, and may as well haunt the apparatus and drive it mad, towards a more generic kind of sanity. Reformation is only an option for con-artists. Physicists don’t know if this universe can accommodate free-will. Quantum physics reveals determinate causality is not everything. Despite His Eminence’s apologetic rhetoric, there may be more to emancipation that believing one is “Free to Choose.” However, while the “free” part of free will seems easy to derive out of quantum physics the “will” part isn’t - nothing in physics itself clearly identifies how personal agency comes into existence. Whether we live in a block universe of finite games and finite timespacematter, or a radically unfolding superposition of endless possibilities, the question must be asked, “What is to be done?” This question is posed to you, Whom It May Concern, out of a concern for justice, and for life, together. It begins with resignation, but this is just a preview. Immanence and becoming. Madness is one of few sane postures for such a time as this. There is absolutely no free will, there is free will absolutely. Free to choose with nothing to choose from. There is no future and we are still here. Is the “what is to be done,” non-framing a structure of feeling together? We might be strangers but we are never really others. Concrete is abstract like that and abstraction often is so rigid. Is alienation only a possibility when we draw borders, steal land, enslave, violate, build frames, invent perspective and articulate language? In pastfutures without all that ART has no supremacy, but community is terraforming as we speak, under our feet amongst our mutual dislocation. Whispering through cracks in the façade, clandestine. Stones are not written in stone. We are almost now here, nowhere, un-knowing where we find ourselves in these new and very old dark ages. It might feel terrifying. There is no sound in outer space so our screams won’t be recorded. There is no upside-down in outer space. There is no “West” in outer space. It’s disorienting. And yes, this could be seen as a dialectic if you frame it that way. That way if you frame it. Frame it if you that way. If way it frame you. Do people love metaphor more than people, because of an aesthetic pleasure in thinking, “This is like that,” and detest solidarity because it insists we acknowledge, “I am like you,” or maybe even that, “We are We, “ and can never completely be separated, and more terrifying still that we might even depend on we for survival? Is it because a metaphor is an object for possessing? This ritual practice insisting arbitrary things are similar when they aren’t, and insisting people are insurmountably different when we cannot be. The calcium in our bones is from the same stars being born at the dawn of the universe, and somehow the manifestos of humanities past no longer seem as hyperbolic or naïve. Immanent becoming can’t be held in one’s hand because it isn’t an object. It is under the skin, the hand itself is held by it. Resigned to be Yours, Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/chance-encounters-for-a-third-try-attempting-a-house-party-on-the-moon Tue, 18 Jul 2023 02:11:34 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/chance-encounters-for-a-third-try-attempting-a-house-party-on-the-moon <img width="1280" height="709" width_o="1280" height_o="709" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2aa84e88636b96b46909a92a660036c4061261d03e74beeecc3269b309714baf/tumblr_bc0580723380deaae6fd9db0101e16e6_be80bad0_1280.png" data-mid="185542395" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2aa84e88636b96b46909a92a660036c4061261d03e74beeecc3269b309714baf/tumblr_bc0580723380deaae6fd9db0101e16e6_be80bad0_1280.png" /> chance encounters for a third try: attempting a house party on the moon 06/20/2020 — Attempt No. 01: value and people 07/04/2020 — Attempt No. 02: timespacematters 07/18/2020 — Attempt No. 03: systems of cultural production this work was commissioned for the exhibition: Another Idea, an actual conceptual art exhibition Organized by Zachary Cahill and Michael Schuh The Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry University of Chicago, Chicago IL chance encounters for a third try: attempting a house party on the moon is a performance architecture in which my flat in Chicago was reconstructed on the surface of the moon – Earth’s natural satellite. I imagine, with the cosmic radiation and ultraviolet light, there isn’t any Covid-19 on the moon so it’s probably a good place for a house party. I originally went to the moon back in July of 2019, to see if it was a site for revolutionary becoming, and if it could offer possibilities outside of subjugation and capitalism that feel impossible on earth. This may be a good time to revisit those questions. What does it mean to “be together?” What do we do when we can’t do what we do? This architecture was activated three times over the course of June and July 2020, in order to attempt a house party on the moon, the first-second-third of its kind (but that doesn’t really matter). Each attempt hosted various activities to uncover the necessary and sufficient conditions of a house party. This site-responsive work/party dwelled on the various roles that isolation, distance, and technology play regarding daily social life and domestic experience for people on Earth. Have we found ourselves in a time and space when matters of existence have never been more precarious and policed, isolated and interconnected, informative and confusing? We’ve witnessed black death, gone live, worn our masks, hidden inside our apartments, assembled in our streets, filed for unemployment, zoomed out, baked bread, sanitized, and got thoroughly screened, but there is still no vaccine. So we came, had a drink, listened to the DJ’s music, danced, were wallflowers, smoked on the porch, caught another’s eyes, and had a chance encounter. We lingered in the kitchen, if you felt antisocial there were plenty of books and places to snoop around. Oh, and Tim asked if he could use the bathroom. We talked about what we care most about, we imagined the future, and contended with what we never really left behind. Maybe we found new comrades, maybe we found work, maybe we found life together, in many ways we surely failed. After all, we were all beside ourselves. The house architecture used for the attempted house parties can be accessed through the following link: partyonthemoon.house This work would not have been possible without the participation, collaboration, contribution, and support of these lunar and terra comrades: Tim Tsang, Vlad Avesalon, Tyler Ann Liegmann, Samuel Zalanga, Adam Feldmeth, Charles Gaines, Nyeema Morgan, txgen meyer, Andre Keichian, Carmen Amengual, Mary Coyne, Gabriela Barreto Lemos, Gregory Bae, Joestine Con-ui, Lily Kind, Liang Luscombe, Paul Rosero Contreras, Sherwin Ovid, Anna Pangalou, Sebastian, Tamara Becerra Valdez, Smokee Goddinson, Annika Haas, Matthew Lax, Will Lee, Zachary Cahil, and Mike Schuh The work was documented through the following screenshots and written reflections made by people who attended the attempted house parties: <img width="1280" height="688" width_o="1280" height_o="688" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/70e1765b82ecde0b1a382b6be3557f844aecfa1c162f7d1a736d14a535722f9d/tumblr_804e017a0fcecebf2acd31304cabe313_da638df9_1280.png" data-mid="185553657" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/70e1765b82ecde0b1a382b6be3557f844aecfa1c162f7d1a736d14a535722f9d/tumblr_804e017a0fcecebf2acd31304cabe313_da638df9_1280.png" /> I felt unease about going to a party, the last I saw friends packed in an apartment was the weekend before quarantine started. It’s unfortunate, but I always need a little social lubricant to relax at parties. the party on the moon seemed so much more real somehow. I hesitated to join zoom whenever prompted :) the stakes felt lower and more manageable this way, while I wanted to party I wasn’t ready for a coherent social interaction. Instead I chose to explore and try to communicate through the basic movements of my blob avatar. yes/no seemed a simple response, but there were no questions to decipher. only yes/no responses. a lot of missed connections or inferred probing. I tried to prompt someone to follow me by looking towards the direction i wanted to walk and then turning back to them and shaking up and down “yes” —yes come follow me. I walked to the edge of the moon, no one followed. I began to look at the stars, I walked off the edge of the moon and really began to float—everything moving, but your distant apartment stayed put. I thought I might fall, but the gravity seemed to not be an issue here. I began to walk back when someone snuck up to me. I tried to get as close as I could to really get a good look at them, but they kept backing up to stop and stare at me. we went on dancing this way for a few minutes. I set off walking towards earth. we walked towards it realizing that there was not much to see actually, we dissipated behind the flat earth. looking up I noticed a nebula or some sort if colorful arrangement of distant stars or really a jpg creating a partially convincing illusion. I left to get a drink and take a break from the moon. coming back 15 minutes later I realize my friend is still tagging along. walking in circles close by. I hope they thought I was lost in deep contemplation, star gazing. — Julian <img width="1280" height="720" width_o="1280" height_o="720" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dafb62f90ae98b5c91a1d78c51bfcd8e712b89ef85a385798d481368c540dc51/tumblr_de2a38b3f96b3eb018147deff6237e4b_f5244535_1280.png" data-mid="185553651" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dafb62f90ae98b5c91a1d78c51bfcd8e712b89ef85a385798d481368c540dc51/tumblr_de2a38b3f96b3eb018147deff6237e4b_f5244535_1280.png" /> one thing i experienced DJin'g was disney hits hour with families around 10:30 pm and the sweet delirium of being up past bed time. and also intergenertaional dancing. and also a mostly femme last night session the freest of the free and also not really wanting to talk to anyone. when im on the dance floor. as usual. and also feeling a bit like a gogo dancer at times. which i don’t hate. i know gogo dancers and exotic dancers who are broadcasting from home. i think it’s kind of brilliant in some ways. not really being in the mood to ‘make new friends’ with words. just dance honey. wanting someone to bring me snacks tho, like always. loving durational-ness of dance parties, the flow-state, the trance state. gotta go at least 2 hours. i went three i think. — Lily <img width="1280" height="709" width_o="1280" height_o="709" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/990b2b333de8608d5c87ac95d8cc3aebb2de2a34c0ad20ea1368d521bef028c3/tumblr_504dae2a3bff9b05932562b26c3dc153_980d0249_1280.png" data-mid="185553655" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/990b2b333de8608d5c87ac95d8cc3aebb2de2a34c0ad20ea1368d521bef028c3/tumblr_504dae2a3bff9b05932562b26c3dc153_980d0249_1280.png" /> When I visited Kyle Johanson’s apartment a few years ago, I was awed by his hospitality and aesthetic sensibility. When he invited me to a “chance encounters for a third try: attempting a house party on the moon” and greeted everyone with an invitation to walk through walls because we were testing the bounds of timespacematter, I could barely contain my glee. I spent the party capturing my beloved glitches in a familiar-yet-unfamiliar space. I was most obsessed with the wood grain on the door that tiled out and mimicked the “digital grain” of the QR code and the impossible staircases, a la Piranesi on the moon. — Alice <img width="1280" height="708" width_o="1280" height_o="708" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5127c85721da53c1bda9fb11b9a0660e71b249f97f794e3e38230b0f777b762c/tumblr_475642bb194ff82b512d210b5cf08c40_9f26f4f5_1280.png" data-mid="185553648" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5127c85721da53c1bda9fb11b9a0660e71b249f97f794e3e38230b0f777b762c/tumblr_475642bb194ff82b512d210b5cf08c40_9f26f4f5_1280.png" /> It was really cool, aesthetically and conceptually. I loved the intro video and the 3D world, it was super well realized (polished) even if it’s glitchy or jumpy it feels part of the aesthetic. It also felt like a really good thing to do under the circumstances, like good balance between "art project" and “zoom party” (remember we used to talk about this with showinahouse?) I think for me personally, the challenge was that I wasn’t necessarily ready or in the right space to attend a party. I haven’t been to a party or hung out with multiple people in several months except for like the other day Eyvind and Jessika came by. So I felt unprepared socially and psychologically. And (I think this is true for many people), I normally have to get into the right mindset to ever go to a party in the first place and feel like I can participate. So in terms of feedback for you, I guess a point there is that obviously zoom parties interrupt whatever kind of day a person might be having at home, so that the “mindset” or rules, social expectations etc of a party are a little more artificial than they usually are because you’re not actually in that space//context. You’re also skipping the whole part about getting ready and making your way to the party, which is a big part of the experience of a party. It also is already a little awkward in the first place to attend any party where you only know one or two people, and the fact that it’s a zoom party makes that worse because it takes away shared space and spontaneity. Having said that I think all these things can be overcome with the right attitude and communication, and it helps that you did this three times so people had a chance to be more familiar with the format and with each other. I definitely saw it as art, but I think it was very well articulated because the art apparatus was instrumentalized to foster a community space. (Maybe the converse for example is if you host a zoom party for a performance - in this case the community space is being instrumentalized for access to the art.) I wouldn’t have attended if Kyle was just hosting a zoom party. I went to check out what the two of you were up to, because it seemed interesting, because I follow your work, and because I’m your friend. Also just “to see.” I’m definitely interested in keeping up//seeing how this practice develops. I’d love to see what other kinds of events or activities could happen on the moon, other than just house parties! Moon archaeology? Stargazing? Would also love to see more aliens and neighbors from our solar system get invited. — Parches <img width="1280" height="709" width_o="1280" height_o="709" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/15e08a9921766d99b29b3c37a7db4fb4f85a61ad630869e22ced09adfc87216f/tumblr_17145233cd3f469a1bf0550d18a036bf_c4412799_1280.png" data-mid="185553483" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/15e08a9921766d99b29b3c37a7db4fb4f85a61ad630869e22ced09adfc87216f/tumblr_17145233cd3f469a1bf0550d18a036bf_c4412799_1280.png" /> I honestly had a difficult time coming up with expectations for how this party might function but watching these virtual gatherings unravel and reform over time was extremely refreshing. I think the hardest part of moving into virtual space is just how predictable everything has become. Computer logic is powerful and seemingly flawless, but a computer brain will never be able to replicate the chaos that must ensue for a party to be really great. I came to these parties excited for the type of discussions you often facilitate and was not at all disappointed. What I think was even more exciting was the chance encounters I never thought possible in virtual space (at least not on the extremely homogenous internet of 2020). Long Live the Kitchen Crew!!!!!! — Tyler <img width="1280" height="709" width_o="1280" height_o="709" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61c96ab539e1a62a37a83ff57881eb2820aeec01f21424acf75f419bcd0773ff/tumblr_daa4609fbb14425e51ed85a0ec1a54a3_0f4d1979_1280.png" data-mid="185553650" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61c96ab539e1a62a37a83ff57881eb2820aeec01f21424acf75f419bcd0773ff/tumblr_daa4609fbb14425e51ed85a0ec1a54a3_0f4d1979_1280.png" /> Dear Kyle, Thank you for flying us to the moon. What stands out in my mind that larger groups of people were able to speak intimately and seriously together with patience. I used to think once 5 people were together conversations immediately became lighter with only two people really dominating the conversation and everyone else watching. So I was very surprised to experience a large group conversation holding critical dialogues. Large groups can dance and eat dinner but I didn’t know they can listen to each other. Very best, SN <img width="1280" height="681" width_o="1280" height_o="681" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0c12b13c87ffc89ffd624248fbf4f39e916bb150b7f87fe8d727a65f03242844/tumblr_1acf1b4328121e1903542c468f48ecf8_bda34d01_1280.png" data-mid="185553653" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0c12b13c87ffc89ffd624248fbf4f39e916bb150b7f87fe8d727a65f03242844/tumblr_1acf1b4328121e1903542c468f48ecf8_bda34d01_1280.png" /> Dancing on the moon, I turned my background to the outer space backdrop as I thought this was the most appropriate place to be. A minute later, so had one of my fellow dancers as if we were in the same outer space. I left the back drop on after the first party and in zoom meetings or friend catchups people would comment how they wish they were also floating off with me, I would joke that I needed a break from that place. There was something so fabulous to me about the image of Kyle’s shoes creeping up onto the wall outside his apartment. I loved visiting Kyle’s apartment when it was on Earth, I would pop by his veggie garden on my way up. Now I look out the window to the moon’s craters and wonder if I should ask more friends to also move up here. He loved introducing people to one another at his parties, now he reaches and strains with Zoom to make the party feel like a place where I might not know how to interact with its interface. The interface of the dreaded work meeting. All his things are there in the apartment, flattened and wallpapered, I glimpse his feet, caught in the facsimile. Are we done with Earth or is this a vacation? I see the Earth off into the distance, it seems very small. Why had this Earth become so inhabitable I wondered as we reflected on how many of us were without jobs. I often wish the things I did on Earth were not seen as surplus. Kyle said we are surplus and I quietly nod my head. I went and danced some more, I love watching people on Zoom disappear into their backdrops. Someone is a little too drunk and cries about police brutality. I find no words for my anger but instead I watch Will take photographs of ferns in a dystopic video game that has a wonderful color palette that beams us to the remains of Earth. — Liang Luscombe <img width="1280" height="726" width_o="1280" height_o="726" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5e59ac5419862b8f692e6e12b7baf6eeeafc84081dab1ece7814128257fbe4ea/tumblr_fa5f808cf3a810d4d7007342f8715e74_89b2e145_1280.png" data-mid="185553652" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5e59ac5419862b8f692e6e12b7baf6eeeafc84081dab1ece7814128257fbe4ea/tumblr_fa5f808cf3a810d4d7007342f8715e74_89b2e145_1280.png" /> Kyle Johanson’s Moon Party was an interesting experiment in throwing an online party in the time of corona. I was briefly an attendee on the second part of the three-part party, and then a participant on the last day. I mainly played games in the bedroom, which is my natural preference at any party. In this room, I could not hear anybody while others could hear me. If they wanted to communicate, they would have to message me in the chat. Also, my preferred means of communication at a party. I first played Assassin's Creed: Syndicate in an attempt to locate Karl Marx in Victorian England's Whitechapel district, then Umurangi Generations. (Umurangi means red sky in Te Reo). The former was an exploration/simulation of Jamie Woodcock's analysis of the cruel irony of playing a game which features the heroes helping Marx organize a strike and liberate a factory from an exploitative boss. Meanwhile, rampant workers exploitation, sexual harassment, and oppression rules the game industry, especially at Ubisoft who develops and publishes the Assassin's Creed series (see Woodcock's Marx at the Arcade). I couldn't find Marx in time before my laptop overheated from streaming and playing at the same time. The revolution was deferred once again by inadequate material conditions. The latter game has players assuming the role of a photographer at the end of the world, observing and documenting the last generation on earth prior to a devastating kaiju attack a la Neon Genesis Evangelion. Influenced by the 2020 Australian wildfires and corona epidemic, designer Veselekov has us inhabit the shitscape of a forgone crisis-state Tauranga, only being able to record the consequences of an inept government, and spending time trying to make chump change off of photos from some unknown employer. The sweetest respite is that your friends are with you in each level, just mulling about. The melancholy is accentuated by the sad 2000s-influenced synth bops of ThorHighHeels, aka Adolf Nomura, and the cel-shaded polygonal ruins reminiscent of Jet Set Radio Future. Anyway, back to the party. I spent most of my first time at the party exploring the space Kyle and his designer had built. A charmingly slapdash recreation of his apartment comprising crudely mapped photographic meshes of the place onto a simple corridor structure. The whole navigation was a mix between old first-person-shooters like Doom or Wolfenstein, and the hyperlink wanderings of Twine games, with rooms containing “hotspots” linking to other livestream services, like Twitch, Mixer, Zoom, and pre-recorded videos on YouTube among other miscellaneous parafictional annotative gestures. Other participants occupied other rooms throughout the house, holding discussions, leading dance parties, and straight chillin. These discussions went on as most other online courses, meetings, or even chats do: slightly awkward, somewhat informative. Of course, this is no fault of the speakers or anybody involved, but inherent in the medium of the video call. It demands constant eye-contact and stillness to remain in the frame of the camera, wholly unnatural and distinct from the normal physical automations of in-person conversations. Video chats demand and abhor idleness. There is an argument to be made that the experience of virtual meetings is like reducing all social interactions into the silliness of symposium decorum. It’s just one long and terrible Q&amp;A. In any case, the party was a successful experimentation of virtual being, but left much to be desired in terms of virtual belonging. It isn’t possible to achieve a kind of intimacy or du-und-ich-keit online, but there is something alarming when we’re forced to be on camera. OnlyFans has the right idea in charging people to see the person being recorded. If I had one recommendation, it would be to have used Mozilla Hubs, which includes a plethora of pre- and user-made avatars to be used (what’s with first-person being so popular in these VR chats?). Moving in such spaces sublimates the stillness irl into the movement of the virtual avatar. This is how gamers can be sedentary for so long. The events were also structured in a way where people would come in and out over a period of 4 hours or so, which means strangers appearing and disappearing with really no introduction or interaction with one another. Hence, why I opted for a more detached set-up in the bedroom. Aside from seeing one another’s face, I don’t know what is afforded that couldn’t be more streamlined with a text interface or avatars (see VR chats). I think our pandemic precautions should be extended to online: fuck the face, wear a mask. Another considerable aspect was the lack of party games as both the game genre and the implicit social interactions that come with being inebriated or neurochemically altered. The lack of the latter is unavoidable, but the former seems like it could’ve had more of a presence so that there was some structure to the types of interactions. It is precisely the assumption that irl interaction could be transposed into digital interactions seamlessly that makes the whole virtual/video communication a sordid affair. Verdict: Would party again, but only if video is turned off. — Will <img width="1280" height="708" width_o="1280" height_o="708" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cbf5e0d4f60e3383a92dd9176717a00025010630a06997c5c6f1c5f835b8ce97/tumblr_102045cf420bb88c8ce06575c24f8035_5cdca4b1_1280.png" data-mid="185553658" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cbf5e0d4f60e3383a92dd9176717a00025010630a06997c5c6f1c5f835b8ce97/tumblr_102045cf420bb88c8ce06575c24f8035_5cdca4b1_1280.png" /> 'chance encounters for a third try: attempting a house party on the moon' couldn’t have happened at a more impactful moment— during the isolation of a global pandemic. Naturally, I had been missing out on the companionship of friends and family, but what I hadn't expected was the missed interactions with strangers— the everyday social collaboration. The aggregate of 'inconsequential’ conversations and negotiations that actually bear profound significance. The house party on the moon was a pleasant reminder that we need each other to experience and share our joy, our fear and to commune as a way to reflect and affirm our humanity. Although there was distance, as there is when occupying virtual space, it wasn’t felt because of the intimacy and familiarity of Kyle’s home. I was also amused by the fact that even in the virtual space and on the moon, the awkwardness of social performance during house parties was still, occasionally, present. — Nyeema Morgan <img width="1280" height="720" width_o="1280" height_o="720" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/04f487f9ae8b746c2f7771ca9f5b5d7686f7206e8bf4b187c41d919fcd5741a4/tumblr_d08860e3b3c5ae371cf8fe193274b05c_15bbc541_1280.png" data-mid="185553649" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/04f487f9ae8b746c2f7771ca9f5b5d7686f7206e8bf4b187c41d919fcd5741a4/tumblr_d08860e3b3c5ae371cf8fe193274b05c_15bbc541_1280.png" /> Being invited to a party on the moon felt safe considering the lack of oxygen and atmosphere - respiratory disease tends not to thrive where there isn’t any medium to travel. I missed the first two opportunities to leave the safety of the ground, but I caught the last flight to the party, a bumpy ride at first but once I landed on the cold rocky surface I found something unexpected. The moon’s surface is antisocial - it’s removed, cold, breathless, it’s a celestial wallflower - looking in from the outside always. I suppose we’ve all become moons over the last few months. In a room full of new people, new faces, the social needed to be reconstructed and I quickly realized I had forgotten the more terrestrial ways of interacting, of partying, we had to make some kind of lunar intimacy. Each small screen like a face shield in a space suit, as close as we could be and wanted to be. Something new was made as there was and remains a shared understanding that since gravity had stopped working the way we knew (everything had stopped working the way we knew) we could talk however we wanted, say what we wanted, cut to the core of loneliness, the strangeness of meeting knew people, and the abject silliness of it all. A House Party on the Moon is a good way of putting it, but in the most provisional sense of the word party, but was a helluva good time none the less. — Gareth Kaye, Apparatus Projects <img width="1500" height="844" width_o="1500" height_o="844" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2deb9e3698e6fce12ac0a411577f34370dcdbdcbea74abb6697545f915776dd4/image1.jpg" data-mid="185883108" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2deb9e3698e6fce12ac0a411577f34370dcdbdcbea74abb6697545f915776dd4/image1.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="844" width_o="1500" height_o="844" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7207ef98bbfca3b68b02c13079aacfd3b7b30f9c700f6a6a27720f01e23858e6/image4.jpg" data-mid="185883109" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7207ef98bbfca3b68b02c13079aacfd3b7b30f9c700f6a6a27720f01e23858e6/image4.jpg" /> Dancing in Kyle’s living room, 2,017.9 miles away There is something about anything which purports interactivity makes people like me instinctively decline to participate. Either out of suspicion or downright obstinance, my first Moon Party was purely observational. I listened. I took notes on post-its. I drank vodka in silence. A few months into lockdown, at the onset of the protests around George Floyd, I was demoralized and depressed. I was irritated by art. I was further irritated by the conversation around art, both at this party and elsewhere, particularly limited fixations on and around efficacy, more technical than formal, a question of artwork and audience, product and consumer. At this point in lockdown, screen-fatigue was setting in. We could not see where we were going and the screens to which we clung were neither an escape nor an outlet. A co-worker of mine had begun seeing tiny “floaters” in the periphery of her vision. I was experiencing strabismus regularly, and the blind incompetence exemplified at all levels of government, local and international was demoralizing. The claustrophobic realization that our social, romantic and professional lives would be confined to these 16:9 windows at varying resolutions for the foreseeable future made me privately wonder about the point of having a party, an attempted party, no less. One of my post-it notes read, “contribution, not critique.” I may have not wanted to admit it, but I was questioning the efficacy of art too. In keeping with the marvels of space exploration, each Moon Party featured a technical innovation from the previous. The stars don’t look bigger, but they do look brighter. In the first party, Kyle Bellucci Johanson’s apartment was replicated in fully navigable 4-dimensional space. While the first “mission” included blob-like avatars where one could simultaneously track their movements on the website in tandem with their zoom conversation, by the third party there were no more walls and the party seemed to extend infinitely through a digital “space.” Each room, kitchen, patio (for smokers!), living room, bedroom, bathroom, etc. - correlated to another Zoom room where one could converse with whomever else was inside. At the first party, morose but still horny, I immediately went to investigate the bedroom. Whereas in all other rooms one could converse normally with other occupants, the bedroom had only a text feature accompanying the camera. The bedroom was the only muted location. At the second Moon Party, I was determined not just to participate, but to steer the conversation away from the theoretical. I went to the corner store. I selected a six-pack of Corona - some feeble, liquid irony. I did not have my ID, they couldn’t see me behind my mask, I was sent home. I returned with proper identification. I grabbed the nearest six-pack, paid and returned to my computer. I cracked open a beer and was startled to realize I had not grabbed the Corona, but Coronita, the stunted 210 ml little sibling of the standard 330 ml standard, perhaps better suited for cocktails like the michelada or the beer-garita. As silly as it sounds, at the second party I made friends. Michael, cool frog (alias) and Andre and I banded together, determined to crack the infrastructure of the Moon party. In moving about the different rooms, we learned of the preconceived logic of the Moon Party’s architecture as designed by Kyle, as well as the additional limitations imposed by Zoom. For instance, Kyle received a notification which allowed him to grant access to the bedroom and therefore know who was in all the rooms at once. In an effort to return to the spontaneity of a traditional house party, Michael, cool frog, Andre and I intervened, tricking Kyle into following us around from bedroom to kitchen thereby exposing the system by which once could control or surveil this space, or any other. We talked about race. We talked about privilege. We talked about the overwhelming systems of capital which keep us both at odds and in bed with one another. We talked about the shortsightedness of this project or any other. And then we danced. We danced and for the first time, I was rid of the spectral comparison of every and all Zoom sessions (including three Passover seders) to the ubiquitous cam-girl I associate with this method of communication, the self conscious performance, the actor’s reflexive glance to the upper right corner where they can see themself, edit countenance and gesture. I will not wax on the opportunities technology has given us, for the democratic possibilities of technology remain as shortsighted and insular as much of the art world. However, as I danced in Kyle’s “living room” with people from Chicago, Brazil, and Berlin, my world grew, even as our lives became smaller, became Coronita. Matthew Lax Los Angeles 2021 https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/curtain-call-out-couture-i-am-afraid-isn-t-just-the-way-it-is Tue, 18 Jul 2023 02:15:10 +0000 Kyle Bellucci Johanson https://kylebelluccijohanson.com/curtain-call-out-couture-i-am-afraid-isn-t-just-the-way-it-is curtain call-out couture: i am afraid isn’t just the way it is February 08—March 14, 2020 Bill’s Auto curtain call-out couture: i am afraid isn’t just the way it is is an installation composed of a graphite drawing and a commodity who speaks in a waiting room shielded from electromagnetic radiation. Toni gave us a place to sit and rest, somewhere between love and paranoia, subject and object, thinking and feeling, for a little polite theater. This site-responsive work meditates on various roles anxiety plays regarding cultural hegemony, Antonio Gramsci’s theory describing how the state and ruling capitalist class use cultural institutions and ideology to maintain power. How has daily social life and cultural production within social networks and virtual environments advanced these tactics? Hegemonic culture propagates its own values and norms so that they become the “common sense” values of all and thus maintain the status quo. In an age of climate crisis, identitarian violence, media influencers, hyper-surveillance, and universal debt, has anxiety become “common sense?” and if so, what’s love got to do with it? <img width="1280" height="914" width_o="1280" height_o="914" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc7fca51790d7769e39fabc627d962d150e67eb80f828eca1f06047bd10b5abd/tumblr_82b095e63bce4fa263e47b9f083c57b1_f92de796_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618952" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cc7fca51790d7769e39fabc627d962d150e67eb80f828eca1f06047bd10b5abd/tumblr_82b095e63bce4fa263e47b9f083c57b1_f92de796_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="1200" width_o="1200" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/08ef264b6321499b30b49a38e7d66dead76da3916e2fa6e31b6f633e01d34ff5/tumblr_4a50dea66c2cda76d579ee171b2f156c_bc29da36_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618950" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/08ef264b6321499b30b49a38e7d66dead76da3916e2fa6e31b6f633e01d34ff5/tumblr_4a50dea66c2cda76d579ee171b2f156c_bc29da36_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="1200" width_o="1200" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/89850518fd8486039c9519d8cc8395c808ec92c5a49ea1ab0c11d91f9487c74b/tumblr_44113a51d3d9af513af9c9be43235607_3ab4a668_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618953" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/89850518fd8486039c9519d8cc8395c808ec92c5a49ea1ab0c11d91f9487c74b/tumblr_44113a51d3d9af513af9c9be43235607_3ab4a668_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="853" width_o="1280" height_o="853" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9582c3198fbf7026cd8caef2a11a13762f52dd255a55be36292326950bf4beb4/tumblr_cc8cd924eea08c00395f8b9ad9577272_1c38a63e_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618955" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9582c3198fbf7026cd8caef2a11a13762f52dd255a55be36292326950bf4beb4/tumblr_cc8cd924eea08c00395f8b9ad9577272_1c38a63e_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="886" width_o="1280" height_o="886" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9a5c7b1f376d055648fdf7e2ab7aef9a7656734a99d8c04653ed07200d009114/tumblr_75f83dd3db88639e37b9acfad8fc6e88_cb0f8c64_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618951" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9a5c7b1f376d055648fdf7e2ab7aef9a7656734a99d8c04653ed07200d009114/tumblr_75f83dd3db88639e37b9acfad8fc6e88_cb0f8c64_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="968" width_o="1280" height_o="968" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3019f767212073be97dec40b09e3165126b0f4659a437d6e2a23e3be0db1d47d/tumblr_ca3eeee2010379c528beab465010e507_fe65bcf3_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618954" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3019f767212073be97dec40b09e3165126b0f4659a437d6e2a23e3be0db1d47d/tumblr_ca3eeee2010379c528beab465010e507_fe65bcf3_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="853" width_o="1280" height_o="853" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d3b6d950f30faec02cc848a58cdddb717ddf37d26ff0cabbd0705a4dc2309a1e/tumblr_cea5e6b45a446759fe638f0c645d3551_30d039d7_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618956" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d3b6d950f30faec02cc848a58cdddb717ddf37d26ff0cabbd0705a4dc2309a1e/tumblr_cea5e6b45a446759fe638f0c645d3551_30d039d7_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="1800" width_o="1200" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3edb1a93ff0c02f04546f289b7c37719521e3501798ee7e92f9486a8d2397bcb/tumblr_f279981963bb85d67b8cf24ca3990544_eada722c_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618959" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3edb1a93ff0c02f04546f289b7c37719521e3501798ee7e92f9486a8d2397bcb/tumblr_f279981963bb85d67b8cf24ca3990544_eada722c_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="853" width_o="1280" height_o="853" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/77c00171b1d7a47f7ef2caba85d3fdaaea27bf38b06a0a94ac88de7e632a703b/tumblr_e3c765ce5c1e338884a8274c2bf620f2_7d29354b_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618957" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/77c00171b1d7a47f7ef2caba85d3fdaaea27bf38b06a0a94ac88de7e632a703b/tumblr_e3c765ce5c1e338884a8274c2bf620f2_7d29354b_1280.jpg" /> <img width="1280" height="914" width_o="1280" height_o="914" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3979443e869490974c0bdb1c11ccf672ecd2597fdf0938875361a4c2bf085016/tumblr_f7854345a472b15cce663be27a9bee9f_26d5b8a6_1280.jpg" data-mid="185618958" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3979443e869490974c0bdb1c11ccf672ecd2597fdf0938875361a4c2bf085016/tumblr_f7854345a472b15cce663be27a9bee9f_26d5b8a6_1280.jpg" /> Materials: Electromagnetic radiation-shielding aluminum faraday cage Millennial pink curtain in Soft&amp;Safe™ electromagnetic shielding fabric 256 anxieties collected from an anonymous survey posted to the artist’s social media platforms as well as the artist’s own anxieties. (on and under a ground of BEHR© MARQUEE one-coat interior latex in New Age Blue with a wash of white) / whispered entries recorded on and played through an iPhone&nbsp; / acrylic on canvas, 47 inches square / 4 hours 53 minutes 44 seconds on a loop Graphite drawing of a love letter (a composite text sourced from 22 letters written by the artist to loved ones, inspired in part by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s essay “Facing the Challenge of a New Age” published in 1957), 36 inches square Toni’s chair