Dreaming the Manifest-O: Outside Meets Inside at Kassel’s documenta

In May 2026, Deborah Adams Doering, DOEprojekts, presented her thesis research at the symposium for the MA Design Research, Writing, and Criticism (D-Crit) program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

The presentation, Dreaming the Manifest-O: Outside Meets Inside at Kassel's documenta, explored how abstract forms, socially engaged art, and participatory design practices can challenge fixed ideas of belonging and exclusion.

The YouTube link for her 13-minute presentation is here.

The presentation includes a description of a vivid dream Deborah experienced in 2008, in which a circle transforms itself through movement. The "O" may be perceived as a vertical line, horizontal line, or point, and the path it traces through movement is an organic swash mark.

Deborah states: 

My research centered on Just Us at Work (JUaW), the 100-day art action created by DOEprojekts and the Keiskamma Art Project (KAP) during documenta 13 in 2012.

Located inside Kassel's historic courthouse (the Amtsgericht), the project featured a 10 x 22 foot embroidered linen Coreforms wall hanging titled "Manifest-O". Nearby were our custom-created work tables that could be positioned as a circle or as an elongated swash surface. The tables supported a variety of creative work such as drawing, monoprints and other types of hand-created art works. 

Visitors were not simply viewers; they became contributors to JUaW. One of the central questions of my presentation and written thesis is "Who gets to belong, and how does that status shift through participation, visibility, and recognition?

Rather than treating "inside" and "outside" as fixed opposites, my research proposes that these conditions are fluid and relational. A person may move between them through action, dialogue, hospitality, and creative exchange.

The presentation also connected my research to broader conversations in art and design theory. I discussed the influence of Kwame Anthony Appiah and his writing on cosmopolitanism, particularly the idea that universality and difference can coexist without collapsing into sameness. 

I also referenced Johan Huizinga and his concept of the "magic circle" from his book Homo Ludens, as well as the participatory design methods explored in Convivial Toolbox by Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers.

A final section of the presentation reflected on the appointment of Ms. Naomi Beckwith and her curatorial team for documenta 16 in 2027. In interviews, Beckwith has spoken about wanting people to "live inside the art." That language resonated strongly with my own research into participation, relational space, and shifting conditions of belonging.

The larger thesis demonstrates that socially engaged art is not only about representation, but about creating situations in which people encounter one another differently. Coreforms function within this process not as fixed symbols with singular meanings, but as open forms that invite movemet, interpretation and collective participation.

I remain deeply grateful to the faculty, students, and community of the SVA D-Crit program for encouraging rigorous interdisciplinary research that bridges art, design, writing, and public discourse. -- Deborah Adams Doering

Photographing Natural "Coreforms" through the Microscope

DOEprojekts (Deborah Adams Doering and Glenn N. Doering) participated in a seminar titled "Biological Imaging: Microscopes in Art," taught by marine biologist Dr. Joseph DeGiorgis, an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. The class merged two of Deborah and Glenn's long-time interests: Nature and Art. During the six-week seminar, we were able to develop a portfolio of images, many of which are displayed in this blog post. We continue to explore our system of Coreforms (circles, lines, swashes, dots) through the microscopic-photo lens. (Images above by DOEprojekts clockwise from upper left: melon tea rose top, melon tea rose bottom,  parrot tulip, and fading purple iris.)

DOEprojekts' images, clockwise from upper left: two petite coleus leaves, large purple coleus leaf detail, ponderosa pinecone, cholla cactus.

Since the light microscope was first developed in the late 1600s by the Dutch naturalist Antoine van Leeuwenhoek, observations with these instruments have made the invisible world visible through magnification. In the early 1800s, photographic processes became more readily available to scientists, visual researchers, designers, and artists. American artists who worked diligently to have photographs seen as "fine art" include Alfred Stieglitz and Imogen Cunningham, and many others world-wide.

DOEprojekts' images, clockwise from upper left: brittle star, sea urchin mouth, sea urchin tentacles, open-mouth scallop.

One of the best parts of the seminar with Dr. DeGiorgis was that he would bring marine specimens from near his home in Woods Hole, MA. Participants could choose from a variety of specimens to position under the microscope. When we chose to photograph the scallop, we had no idea that it would "spit" at us. Fortunately, after spitting a few times, the scallop seemed to smile at us, and opened up, so we could photograph his/her beautiful blue eyes.

We also were able to choose from a variety of dessicated marine life including tiny seahorses. Several species of seahorses are known to bond for life, so we positioned two seahorses as embracing. The sea urchin shell (top and bottom) reminds us of our central circular form, both in its interior and exterior roundness.

DOEprojekts plans to use these images as resource images for creating objects and experiences.  

“Constructing Community: Stories & Symbols of Resiliency” Exhibition and Workshop

Above: DOEprojekts’ postcard and banner design, announcing our exhibition and workshop at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, New York City.  Below: St. Mary’s Sanctuary with Ancestor Altar. DOEprojekts banner on the exterior of the church’s fence.

Above: Opening reception of “Constructing Community: Stories & Symbols of Resiliency.” Below: Panoramic photo of the installation.

In “Constructing Community: Stories & Symbols of Resiliency” exhibition in November and December at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, curated by DOEprojekts, artists display the work of resilient communities: 1.Keiskamma Art Project (South Africa); resilience in post-apartheid, 2.Pax Rwanda (Rwanda/USA) resilience in the aftermath of Rwandan Genocide, and 3.DOEprojekts (USA) resilience after the COVID-pandemic. Especially noteworthy in this exhibition are three new works that DOEprojekts purchased from the Keiskamma Art Project titled “Freedom, Equality, and Human Dignity.” Each of the hand-embroidered tapestries measure approximately 24” x 24.”

 

Above: Display of “Freedom, Equality, and Human Dignity,” with detail of “Human Dignity” below. The works are created in circular format. The circle is a “Coreform” in DOEprojekts’ art practice.

 

With our grant from The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), we were able to partner with the St. Mary’s community, by exhibiting embroideries that opened up conversation about resiliency. What is resiliency, what does it look like in NYC, and is it important in 2024? How does it help us do more than “muddle through” in difficult times?

Above: Visitors to the exhibition enjoy both the art and the written stories and symbols that are displayed near the Keiskamma Art Project works as well as the Pax Rwanda embroidered maps on the wall above the table.

Above: DOEprojekts’ Jacquard fabric (used in several art projects during the COVID-19 pandemic) is displayed above the 150 year-old fireplace at St. Mary’s, forming a backdrop for a carved “zero and one” book sculpture. Mounted above is a collaborative work titled “Home” by DOEprojekts and Keiskamma Art Project.

 

Public Workshop  

In conjunction with St. Mary’s Ancestor Altar Sunday, our “Artmaking with Ancestral Symbols” workshop was held on Sunday, Nov 10, 2024, in a pair of adjacent meeting rooms. Participants worked with paper, color pencils, and markers to sketch symbols that related to their ancestral heritages. Those symbols were then worked into collages or used to create cyanotype prints on specially treated paper or cloth.

 

 

Upon completion of their artworks, many workshop participants interpreted their ancestral or familial stories for the others in the group.

 

Workshop participants were pleased with their art stories and symbols, and many stated that they would be taking their works home to display them, and re-telling their ancestral stories to family and friends. DOEprojekts looks forward keeping in touch with St. Mary's Episcopal Church for future exhibitions and workshops.

Creating Cyanotypes in Community

Above: A selection of the two-dozen cyanotype prints created by Deborah Adams Doering and Glenn N. Doering. DOEprojekts participated in three “Earth Matter: Cyanotypes” workshops on Governors Island in 2024.

Imagine prussian-blue cyanotype prints in multiple stages of development are scattered in all directions. We are two of the fifteen printmakers intent upon their craft on a sunny, breezy day on Governors Island, NY; some of us are inside the studio-exhibition space, experimenting with compositions featuring decaying items from nearby compost mounds, and others are outside, combing through garden clippings, searching for appropriate elements that will complete their compositions in the most aesthetic way. 

One goal of the imminent “show” is creating memorable images that will serve as visual reminders that the earth needs help in supporting healthy human and animal life, and that composting is one way to assist. More important than the resulting prints however, is the nascent act of forming a community interested in sharing sustainable practices.

Above: Printmakers display their cyanotype works at the Earth Matter studio workshop.

DOEprojekts participated in “Earth Matter: Cyanotypes” three times during the summer of 2024. The creative workshops and resulting displays arise from the initiative of two individuals: Bryen Pittner and Brian Buckley.

Above: Bryen Pittner and Brian Buckley, in the garden and in the studio.

Bryen Pittner works as “Farm Artist and Facilitator” at the nonprofit Earth Matter NY; EMNY’s mission is to reduce the organic waste misdirected into garbage streams through neighborhood participation in composting, educational workshops, and printmaking shows. In 2023, Bryen contacted “the other Brian” and proposed writing a grant for a series of workshops at the EMNY composting facility. The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), an organization that has supported DOEprojekts with several grants in the past 10 years, approved EMNY’s proposal and funded the 2024 workshop-exhibitions. 

Above: Brian Buckley’s personal art practice includes a variety of cyanotype techniques.

Key to the LMCC grant award is Buckley’s expertise in experimental photography. As part of his art practice, he reinterprets photography’s earliest techniques, particularly cyanotypes and other camera-less methods, which allow for group collaboration and communal gatherings. EMNY’s composting mounds, gardens, and studio-exhibition space prove ideal for Buckley’s sunlight-driven process and product.

The photo-printmaking process, we learned, has several steps that require patience and precision. Cyanotypes require a smooth, stiff, hot-pressed paper, since photo-sensitive chemicals need to adhere to, but not be fully absorbed by, the paper-substrate. We mixed the chemical compound (Ferric ammonium citrate and Potassium ferricyanide) shortly before application to the paper. The chemicals have a low toxicity and support EMNY’s earth-friendly mission. Mixing, applying the chemicals, drying the prepared surface, arranging the compost material, and exposing the composition to the sun, is considered part of the ecological “show.”

Above left: Compostable objects are aesthetically arranged on cotton paper that has been treated with low-toxic, light-sensitive chemicals. Above right: The resulting cyanotype print.

After exposure to the sun, the objects were returned to compost piles and the paper was rinsed in water; the ghostly outlines of various compostables – both human and nature-made – mystically appeared. Our group of printmakers never tired of watching the wizardry; oohing-ahhing at a developing print was an adjacent soundtrack to crickets chirping and bees buzzing. 

One print in particular is magical; the wind caused some of the compostables to shift slightly during the developing process.  Spectral vibrations are part of each object’s outline such that the forms suggest a dialogue between humans and nature. The fully developed print displays a commercial wrapper and a circle-graphic integrated with willowy weeds, a large tree leaf, and a flower. The print advances an abstract of the show’s ecological significance. 

As artists, we want to be supportive of the earth, but often the processes used to create our works can sometimes be toxic. Through community printmaking education using low-toxic printmaking techniques like cyanotypes, artists create aesthetic images, but more importantly, they support each other in the ongoing practices that sustain the earth.

Above left: Printmaking community displayed their cyanotypes at the third Earth Matter Cyanotype workshop. Glenn and Deborah, far right, display their T-shirt cyanotypes.

DOEprojekts exhibits “Pochoirs” folio with CENTRAL BOOKING’s “The Visual Read” at Graceland Arts Centre, UK

DOEprojekts (Deborah and Glenn Doering) is a decade-long member of CENTRAL BOOKING, an international artist-run gallery specializing in the book as art, (especially art & science book art), and collaborations with cultural institutions. DOEprojekts has been curated (by Maddy Rosenberg, artist/curator) into many CENTRAL BOOKING’s exhibitions, the most recent being “The Visual Read” at Graceland Arts Centre, Dumfries, Scotland, UK.

Pochoirs Folio 002 offers individuals and communities ten hand cut pochoirs (pochoir is the French word for stencil). Each pochoir-stencil is designed using DOEprojekts’ basic forms, called Coreforms (circles, horizontal and vertical lines, swashes and dots), as a point of departure and an invitation to participate.

Above: “Draw” hand-cut stencil (left) and “Draw” frottage (rubbing) on a found page of a former book.

Each pochoir may be used in multiple ways; each participant decides how to generate physical and psychological movement through their individual creativity. 

Additionally, DOEprojekts has created one frottage (rubbed image) with a wax block for each pochoir, suggesting one way that the pochoir-stencil may be used. Other ways to participate include stippling paint through the stencil or using the stencil to create shadows, and then documenting various effects photographically (stencils may also be used with cyanotype/sun printing papers). Participants may discover limitless creative ways to use these pochoir stencils.

Above: “Pochoir Folio 002” cover (left) and "The Visual Read" entrance at Greacelands Arts Centre, UK.

“The Visual Read” focuses on the breadth and depth of book art of more than 30 distinguished artists from New York and two Scottish guest artists, Hugh Bryden and Linda Mallett. A full list of artists, and video documentation of the exhibition, may be found at this link: https://youtu.be/t_rF6gz9nBo 

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Grant

In April, DOEprojekts was awarded a 2024 UMEZ Arts Engagement Grant. The goal of UMEZ is to connect Upper Manhattan artists with venues and audiences in the same area.

Above: Coreforms hand-cut stencil.

With some of the UMEZ grant funds, DOEprojekts will be hosting a community workshop in upper Manhattan. We will be using some of the techniques and examples shown in the Pochoir Folio. Stay tuned for more information, OR, if you are interested in reserving a place at the workshop, contact us at DOEprojekts@gmail.com. 

DOEprojekts' 2024 Mid-year Review

The year started out with a “bang” for DOEprojekts (Deborah Adams Doering and Glenn N. Doering)! Opportunity knocked in January, and we answered. (And it was not until July that we “caught our breath.”)

Through networking and diligence, and with the help of our New York friend, Ronnie Glattauer and her Viennese nephew-in-law, Walter Glattauer, (and his artist-friend, Peter Baldinger), DOEprojekts was invited by Vienna-based gallerist Michael Bella to install a two-week solo exhibition at “Bellart Galerie” near the world-renowned Upper Belvedere Museum (famous for Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss).

Above left: Exterior of Bellart Galerie. Above Right: Deborah and Glenn Doering, with gallerist Michael Bella in between, in front of the gallery.

Above: Bellart Galerie’s invitation to the opening of “Eye Eat Too.”

Our exhibition, titled “Eye Eat Too,” included a series of monoprints of DOEprojekts’ Coreforms that reference dinner plates, visualizing a German maxim about the aesthetic presentation of food on a plate, “Das Auge isst mit” – translated in English as “the eye eats too.”

Thus, with aesthetic art works and edibles as our theme, we prepared to fly to Vienna with our monoprints and three dozen home-baked, fondant-covered cookies (and a collection of edible-ink pens). Our goal was to offer community participation at the “Eye Eat Too” opening, a trademark of our socially-engaged DOEprojekts. Special thanks to artist friend Beatriz Ledesma for assisting in the cookie creation (and for cat sitting while we were gone). 

Above: Deborah and Beatriz apply the white fondant to our home-baked cookies. We wrapped each cookie individually, and then carefully packed them in a box lined with bubble-wrap.

Just as we had hoped, our “Eye Eat Too” opening reception was well-attended and many cookies were decorated by attendees with an artistic flare. And we were able to practice our German, and the Viennese were able to practice their English.

Above: Eye Eat Too participants created their own “Coreform Kekse” (cookies) during the opening of the exhibition, some inspired by our monoprints.

More photos from the opening and ongoing exhibition:

Above: Opening of the exhibition “Eye Eat Too”

Above: Six of the 25 monoprints displayed in “Eye Eat Too” at the Bellart Galerie

Above: The exhibition included pieces of broken dinner plates that had been repurposed into neck chains

While in Vienna, of course we “had” to participate in its famous coffee culture. So not once, but twice, we went to Café Hawelka, one of Vienna’s most famous traditional large coffee houses. It has been a meeting place for writers and artists of the past and present - famous, infamous, or still undiscovered - run by the Hawelka family for over 80 years.

So thank you to our new Viennese friends for making this a memorable experience and welcoming DOEprojekts!