Offstage Response to SFMOMA Article

Offstage reply:

First off, we are all pleased that our proposal has initiated such a dialogue and look forward to continued discussion.

Before addressing specifics it is worth noting that our blog is in proposal form and has been constantly evolving for over a year. There are some rather crucial updates that have not yet been uploaded due to last minute changes. Clearly it is very different to approach a proposal as opposed to finished work. Second, it is clear that extensive reading has been done on the Wonderland website, but not a single interview conducted with any of the artists, the TCBD, nor the curator Lance Fung. Obviously we are conditioned to be devoted to our on-line world for information, but to write an entire article of a multi-dimensional exhibition through this one lens seems unfortunate. If we are truly concerned about addressing the social implications of such an art intervention, a thorough discussion with its participants and residents of the neighborhood seems required.

Having said that, our collaborative group is interested in addressing any misunderstandings toward our artistic intensions. We feel our central premise remains a valid component within the construct of this exhibition and the neighborhood and hope it continues to evoke a variety of reactions. Our goal is to create an installation that represents various cultural and psychological contradictions at work in the Tenderloin. Within this vein the complicated nature of “performance” and “audience” is also examined. The Tenderloin has always been a destination for various forms of entertainment and theater. On these stages there is an illusionary drama that is represented. Meanwhile, outside of these buildings a very real drama unfolds everyday. It may seem crass to describe a cathartic gesture emoted by someone in a desperate situation as a “performance,” but it is a very common, real behavior that holds a haunting poetry for all and should not be easily tossed off because it is not pc. The photos of pedestrians on the blog are a perfect example of our group researching our project as outsiders. Indeed we are all outsiders on this project, critics included, and we all bring a certain perspective as an “audience” to this situation. The Tenderloin has always drawn outsiders, tourists, transients and hosts of others since its inception. Wonderland will obviously bring a host of influences and perspectives and will complicate further the role of the outsider and the audience. All we can hope is that it leads to further discussion.

Our group is not interested in addressing politics or trying to stave off societies ills. We are interested in making an abstract visual beacon that reflects an internal, human struggle. The symbol of the cocoon holds a variety of references as does the sleeping bag. Obviously, we are conscious of the dangers inherent in aestheticizing these materials. Taking risks is an important component in art production. However, do not think we make these decisions lightly. We weigh these decisions between the three of us and each of our intellects and instincts. We have also given presentations on our proposal half a dozen times through out the last year to a variety of Tenderloin organizations who never thought we were being insensitive toward these issues. Ultimately, it will come down to the execution of the sculptures themselves that will weigh the balance of these ruminations and contradictions. We look forward to discussing any of these issues further during the Wonderland symposium on October 18th.

-Offstage

“OFF WITH THEIR HEADS“

Reader responds to negative spin in SFMOMA Blog posting:

"It is always difficult to critique the heartfelt efforts of another to defend those deemed less fortunate in society–especially when those sentiments are couched in a cleverly written introduction to an impending public event. Sadly, however, Adrienne Skye Roberts’ recent evaluation of the forthcoming Tenderloin exhibition “Wonderland” amounts to a self-conscious rant that reinforces the unsupported stereotypes she, herself, attributes to supposedly unseasoned artists, gawking tourists, unresponsive government and even San Francisco’s Tenderloin district’s homeless and downtrodden themselves.

In short, Ms. Roberts assumes the role of Louis Carroll’s Queen of (Bleeding) Hearts. She shouts “Off with their heads,” in response to the efforts of a broad consortium of talented and well intended exhibitors and community partners whose aims are far from facilitating what Roberts predicts will be only a brief encounter with the Tenderloin—an encounter that she assumes will be fed by “the lure and thrill of visiting San Francisco’s seediest neighborhood for one night through a voyeuristic meandering.”

After attributing her own misperceptions and stereotypes to the project, Robert’s at last asks, “Whose wonderland is this?” Perhaps the genius of Alice’s magic kingdom is that it is EVERYONES’.The objective of true literature, art, public largess and humanity is eclectic! Could it be that a visitor to the Wonderland exhibition might come away with a renewed determination to mitigate the plight of the less fortunate who are struggling in the heart of city. Might the artists who are contributing their talents to bring attention to the Tenderloin view its inhabitants with interest, compassion and even respect? Might it be more important to view the entire project from the very real perspective of potential paradigm shift and positive change rather than rolling out Robert’s hackneyed, negative projections that insist that all the roses MUST be painted red not white.

Ms. Roberts states, “I’m not terribly interested in identifying which projects are more or less appropriate or community oriented and which are not….” She then proceeds to do just that including her personal perspective regarding not only the artists’ intentions, but her assumptions as to what the viewers conclusions will be. In particular Roberts cites the “Offstage” project that draws on the Tenderloin’s theater history as an antecedent to the “human drama in extremely raw form” now extant on it streets. Art often imitates life including the presentation in “Offstage” of a sleeping bag form “to reference those without shelter in the neighborhood”. But art’s wonder is its ability to inspire vision and possibility. If one were not constrained by foregone negative conclusions, might one view an upright, twisting sleeping bag form as a cocoon of human possibility, or as a modern representation of Michaelangelo’s captives writhing their way from the un-chiselled marble into human perfection. One cannot grasp future possibility without calling attention to present conditions–however, horrific.

It is said that one cannot make a difference without “being better and KNOWING better.” It is ironic that knowing is often the function of fantasy. Rather than Wonderland being Robert’s “A World Turned Upside Down” might Wonderland be the catalyst for righting the landscape of the Tenderloin? Who said Alice “only woke up later and returned to her safe and comfortable life”? She may have decided that including roses of every color in her life’s bouquet was to her liking. She may have turned her efforts to growing something worthwhile!"

Recovery Theatre Responds to Negative Article

Geoffrey SF Recovery Theatre Says:

*Let me get this straight…a world renowned curator comes to the Tenderloin, interfaces with the residents, community service providers, local artist, residents, etc. Incorporates their talents, needs wants and wishes into a highly visible, totally accessible art exhibition for all to see and participate in. Not get paid or have enough for salaries or instillation rental, but there is a complaint that “my concerns lie with the framework of the project as a whole.”

As a “local” artist this is the best thing I’ve seen in a while.

*Since this is the only involvement or contribution the Golden Gate Theater has ever made to the TL neighborhood, I for one applaud the spotlight being turned on them as the only ballet of life in their community they seem to support.

*Perhaps if you were, then you might see that a project like this will provide an alternative avenue for those trapped in a municipal containment zone. Much like in the movie District 9, a few may escape while Wonderland holds open the lens for the world to see

*Since the City won’t do it, why shouldn’t the residents benefit in any way they can from having new blood wondering through their land. The author of this article is trying to appear knowledgeable and well meaning but is just regurgitating surface discourse. It’s quite apparent the writer has not interviewed participating artist, otherwise she would know that there are 16 projects, plus the opening and not just 10. She would also be aware of the fact that the TL resident artist and supporting community believe so strongly in this event, they want to expand on the vision and do again in 2010.

If events like this don’t take place, at this level how is locally based grassroots performance art company like mine ever going to be seen…waiting on some “spare change grant” from the city….I don’t think so!

Offstage Critique on SFMOMA Blog

This text is quoted directly from the SFMOMA Open Space Blog written by Adrienne Skye Roberts Posted on September 7, 2009

"One project is particularly troubling to me. The project “Offstage” began with research into the history of the Tenderloin as a theater district and extends this history to what is described on the Wonderland blog as “the theatricality of the streets” that depicts “human drama in extremely raw form.” The artists describe the inhabitants of the Tenderloin as conducting “melodramatic behaviors common to urban vagabonds” often induced by inebriation. In order to make visual this phenomenon, as they describe it, the artists chose to abstract and replicate sleeping bag forms, to reference those without shelter in the neighborhood and will install these forms in the windows of the Golden Gate Theater located on Taylor street. In the last paragraph of the project description the artists state, “In our installation, we bring focus to the life on the streets of the Tenderloin, allowing the spectacle of the street to take center stage. Consequently, the “characters” are brought closer to the streets by featuring a “show” that is available to all pedestrians and inhabitants of the neighborhood.” In conjunction with this project description, the blog features photographs that mimic those captured by surveillance cameras—images taken from afar, without the persons awareness, and altered to highlight them through a spotlight, as though to exemplfy exactly who this cast of characters are.

It remains unclear to me how this project functions within the framework of Wonderland as a community centered project whose primary audience is intended to be residents of the Tenderloin. While the artists were apparently inspired by their observations within the neighborhood, the perspective remains that of someone outside, falling back on the assumptions often made about people who live “on the wrong side of the tracks.” All too often urban areas such as the Tenderloin are represented one-dimensionally through the lens of all that is considered dangerous and illegal. Yes, there is crime in the Tenderloin, yet there are also internal communities within these neighborhoods and systems of checks and balances that often remain unseen to those who do not live there.

The true issue that underlies the premise of “Offstage” is a city government that continues to cut funding for a population of people who are addicts and/or have mental illnesses and are in need of basic social services. So long as clinics, rehabilitation centers, and shelters continue to loose financial support, the street will remain a site in which all areas of people’s lives are made highly visible. By naming this situation as a “show” the artists of “Offstage” invite visitors to observe this “spectacle” at a distance, from the position of an audience member, a tourist passing through the neighborhood. Additionally, the aestheticization of homelessness in the form of sleeping bags ascending from a theater does little to address the “social representation and change” as the description on the blog states. How do the residents of the Tenderloin, those “urban vagabonds” described in “Offstage” benefit from such a representation?"

For full article click here.