Tuesday, December 18, 2012

'Re-thinking Soup' to 'PopUp Loop' — DOE Projekts visits and engages 'Placemaking' art spaces



























What makes a place inviting? What qualities and activities makes people want to visit, re-visit, and contribute?

In December 2012, DOE Projekts visited and participated (in various degrees) in University of Illinois' last "Re-thinking Soup" program, Jane Addams' Hull House exhibition "21st Century Home Economics" (specifically the work by Carole Lung) and Fenn House's final community fundraising event, led by Laura Shaeffer. 

Qualities that made us want to linger:  intellectual engagement, aesthetic displays, good lighting, good food, interesting conversations. 

Activities that invited us to participate: question-and-answer sessions, invitations to contribute our work, clear needs and avenues for support.

DOE Projekts has been offered the 23 East Madison "Pop Up Loop Space" for March-April 2013. It is once again "our turn" to "make a place" for  friends, family, and many others in a vacant store front at the Madison-State "Zero Point" in Chicago. We have begun to question, explore and create. We want to build upon our "JUST US AT WORK" efforts in Kassel. Your suggestions, participation, and support are welcome.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Art of Placemaking — a forum for sharing ideas on how artists create 'Place' through a social art practice














Glenn and Deborah Doering, DOE Projekts, participated in The Art of Placemaking, a forum sponsored by the Rebuild Foundation, University of Chicago, and the Bruner-Loeb Forum.  The forum focused on artist-led and culture-initiated development. Presenters at the first session included Walter Hood, Kennedy Smith, and Carol Coletta.











Part of the forum included visiting several sites slated for creative community use by Theaster Gates and his Rebuild Foundation.
Another part of the forum included speaking with other workshop participants about innovative artist collaborations with architects, designers, community residents, and sponsors.











After completing The Art of Placemaking forum, we visited another artist-led community project, SHoP at Fenn House, founded by Laura Schaeffer.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

"JUST US AT WORK" — Project Review

























With over 1000 photos from the past 100 days in Kassel, Germany, to choose from, it is difficult to limit this summary to two dozen images. We have grouped these photos into 4 sections; Artists/Participants, Places, Art/Work, and Extended Relationships. Of course, there is cross-over in each section. Above, we focus on the three artist-collaborators who formed the core of 'just us at work' — Veronica Betani, Cebo Mvubu, and Deborah Doering. We also say 'thank you' again to those artists and artisans who spent one or two weeks working in the Amtsgericht with us: Nancy Adams, Glenn Doering, Kathryn Trumbull Fimreite, Irene Perez Gil, Shauna Hupe Angel Blue,  Denise Laurin, Magdalena Linden, and Kathryn Maple Whitten. We sincerely appreciate your contribution to 'just us at work.'

Our main workplace for 'just us at work' was the entrance hall of the Amtsgericht (Offices of Justice) on Frankfurter Straße 9 in Kassel, Germany. On our first day, June 1, 2012, we hung the "Manifest O", a 9' x 21' hand-embroidered tapestry, conceptualized by DOE Projekts, and embroidered by the artists of the Keiskamma Art Project of Hamburg, South Africa. We then began to work with the idea of the zero and one in a specific movement pattern, to create various embroideries and painted prints. By the end of our 100 day project, 35 embroideries and 40 painted prints had been created. In addition, we had over 200 sketches of various concepts and designs, and also several dozen "wax rubbings" created from stencils we hand-cut. Eight embroideries and two prints were sold during our 100 days in Kassel. Previous to the start of the project, several of the art works were promised to supporters/patrons who had pledged funds for our project. We continue to seek out opportunities to exhibit and sell the artwork; purchasing our work contributes to the ongoing work of both DOE Projekts and Keiskamma Art Project. Please contact Deborah Doering, dadamsdoering@yahoo.com, if you are interested in providing such opportunities.








Monday, September 10, 2012

'just us at work' — day 100 in Kassel and the Amtsgericht — we finish the 'job'


























Today is DOE Projekts' last official day in the Amtsgericht, Kassel. We thank Mr. Fischer, President of the Amtsgericht, for today's visit to our site of collaboration and cooperation. DOE Projekts also thanks Kathryn Maple Whitten (from Atlanta, Georgia, USA)  for her trip to Kassel to help us pack up our work and supplies. The entrance hall of the Amtsgericht has been a great location for our work of the past 100 days. We look forward to posting pictures on this blog that will overview and summarize our 'art action.'