Press Release: Short

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In September of 2005 Flux Factory will present Almost Something, a show of subtle, beautiful, and often strange original works that melt into the fabric of the gallery space, which upon first appearance may seem virtually empty. Yet, appearances aren't always to be trusted and Almost Something is never quite what it appears.

Almost Something invites the viewer to wander Flux Factory, and get lost in the imaginations of more than 20 artists including works of painting, installation, performance, video, simple observations, sound, and text. Multiple tour guides by multiple critics have been written to lead one through very different versions of the same show. Upon closer inspection, some projects appear to be in every guide, some in just a few, some in none at all. Offered a variety of perspectives, the viewers are asked to piece together the reality of this show to their own liking. Concerts and film nights will accompany the run of Almost Something, including a performance by Phill Niblock. Curated by the renowned international team of Po & Gonzalez (in collaboration with Flux Factory), Almost Something brings together artists from all over the world --from Queens, NY to Europe and Asia.

 

Press Release: Arty

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Art vs. non-Art? Art vs. Life? Object vs. Idea? From Duchamp's readymades, through Rauchenberg's bed and beer cans, to Jeff Koon's oversized puppies, such has been the background of much art historical debate of the 20th century. But "Art" has always been clearly labeled and separate from the "not Art". First there were thick gilded frames, then (as early as Stieglitz's gallery 291 in the 1910s) careful individual presentation of objects under a spotlight, and today we have the ever present, ever more important and ever longer wall label. For example in 2004, in describing the Whitney Biennial, Arthur Danto wrote:

"...clearly written wall texts, decoding and unmasking, are these days as indispensable as subtitles for films in languages one does not understand." -- Arthur C. Danto "Unnatural Wonders"

The curators, artists and critcs of "Almost Something" at Flux Factory are taking the next step. They are moving the game of Art dialogue and production to that last vestige of authority: the wall label.

The artists have been challenged to present work which could be confused with regular real life objects or would be difficult to identify as "Art" unless you know what you are looking for. They have been asked to deal in the discrete, the second take, and to focus on small surprises. The wall texts so essential to Danto are removed and replaced by numbers. Three critics are serving as "tour guides" providing context for the works in guide books with maps that lead the viewer to the "Art" by matching up the critiques to the small numbers scattered about the gallery.

Three different critics can easily come up with entirely incompatible commentary on a single interesting project, but here the critics have been given the leeway to sometimes omit projects entirely, and even to make projects up. The labels (the context) which are meant to hold the viewer's hand and help him to understand the importance of why one object is "Art" and another similar object "not Art" are leaving the viewer out in the cold. With no reassuring authoritative voice, the viewer has no guarantee that what he is observing is in fact Art, that it is what the artist intended he notice, or even that the artist exists at all.

On the initiative of two curators Emilie Po and Francis Gonzalez, and under the generous auspices of Flux Factory, 20 artists, writers, and critics, have collaborated to create "Almost Something." Musicians, sound artists and performers have been invited to participate on four Saturday nights during the show. A series of short films and feature length movies will be shown on Sunday nights.

The careful viewer, the listener, the cultural voyager who doubts what the authorities have labeled as fit for his enjoyment will find a show bursting with creativity. On the walls, the floor, in the bathroom, in the drinks, in the library, in the guide books, the catalogs and critcal essays prepared especially for this show, at Flux, in the sunset, and the parties: Art is everywhere.

"did you hear that?', they will say" -- John Cage