EXERCISES

An interactive installation shown at the AC Institute in New York City in 2010, as part of the DEPARTMENT OF MICROPOETICS project curated by VerySmallKitchen for the exhibition "Exchange Value".

The piece — consisting of a chalkboard, chalk, eraser, booklet of "exercises" (see the text below), and disposable camera — was designed to instigate conversations about power, privilege, dialogue, and discipline in education. It opened with a quote by educational theorist Paulo Freire — "if the structure does not permit dialogue, the structure must be changed" — copied onto the chalkboard by the gallery director. Following, visitors to the gallery were invited to copy poems from the booklet onto the chalkboard, and take a photograph to document their work. Some people remained faithful to the originals. Others changed the text. Sometimes people erased pre-existing text to give themselves a blank slate. Others chose to layer new text over pre-existing text. And so on.

In addition to the installation, I also completed an "on-site/off-site" residency during the exhibit — in collaboration with the poet Rachel Zolf. Zolf and I engaged in a remote dialogue about the exhibition and notions of "exchange" (personal, intellectual, creative, economic, etc). And the poems we traded were then documented via Zolf's online Tolerance Project.

The full text of Exercises is available to read on my Substack Orium: In Process.