Project X Forum 6: Pair-A-Sites

Charles Gaines and Kerry Tribe in conversation
On the double-duty: Practicing art and teaching in Greater Los Angeles

Wednesday August 19
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
18th Street Arts Center, Gallery, 1639 18th St, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Refreshments served.
Witnesses: April Bey, Andrea Bowers, Vanalyne Green, Candice Lin, Mario Ontiveros

Rosalind Krauss in “Notes on the Index” suggests that the modernist forced march towards Presence is restaged in post modernity as the contingent testimonial of the index – this was there, this was there then; and now, some 15 years later, much of what we thing of as installation art is still fixed in the contingency of testimonials. Project X has always been particularly concerned with the “there” in “this was there then,” and Pair-A-Sites at the Armory is not exception.  —Ellen Birrell and Stephen Berens, 1996, in the introduction to “Pair-A-Sites” publication

“Pair-A-Sites” was an exhibition in the form of a series of 3 installations by 3 pairs of artists in December 1995 to March 1996 at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, specifically staged in the Community Room — the one room in the building that is shared by both the educational and exhibition programs.
Participating 1995-96 Artists: Lynne Berman & Kathy Chenoweth, Diane Bromberg & Eve Luckring, Charles Gaines & Cheryl Kershaw

Taking liberally from the initial concerns of the “Pair-A-Sites” exhibition and publication, we invited artists and teachers Charles Gaines and Kerry Tribe to talk about education and exhibition in a larger room—Greater Los Angeles.

This is the sixth in a series of public forums investigating the exhibitions Project X produced in the 90s at 18th Street Arts Center, with a focus on the conditions facing Los Angeles artists at that time, and the way they shaped artist-run organizations, alternative exhibitions and publications. What can the nineties tell us about now?

• Listen to an audio recording of this forum here.

Project X originated as a roving organization. A team of artists curating exhibitions in the wake of the art market boom of the nineties, they strove to fill the absence of conceptual art criticism in Los Angeles. Project X’s curatorial projects illustrate the crucial role of the artist’s voice in shaping and sustaining the Los Angeles art community.

The Project X Forums are organized by Shana Lutker and Kellie Lanham.
More about the PROJECT X RESIDENCY AT 18TH ST ARTS CENTER.

Project X will host forums once a month through 2015.

Thanks to 18th Street Arts Center! The Curator in Residence program at 18th Street Arts Center is generously supported by the the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Thank you to LACA for hosting the Project X Forums Archive.