Dec.
20, 2010
For immediate release
Contact: Robbin Zella 203-332-5052
Housatonic Museum
of Art presents
“It’s for you” Conceptual
Art and the Telephone
Cutline: Nickname Game, Luka Geronimas, 2008
Click for hi-res image
Bridgeport, CT-- From February 24 through March 25, 2011, the Housatonic
Museum of Art (HMA) at Housatonic Community College will present
an exhibit “It’s for you” Conceptual Art and
the Telephone in the Burt Chernow Galleries and other areas
of the HCC campus. The exhibit is, in part, a response to the wide-ranging
use of phones in the hallways and other areas on the campus of the
college.
Each day students text, talk, surf the net, and listen to music on
their phones. With this exhibition, artworks that use
the phone as an artistic medium or mediator are brought together in
an original exhibition curated by Terri C. Smith.
The projects range from the late 1960s to today and include sound pieces,
videos, and objects that resonate with the functions, technologies,
and physicality of the telephone. Artists in the exhibition include:
T. Foley, Lukas Geronimas, Jeremy LeClair, Christian Marclay, Yoko
Ono, Rachel Perry Welty, Robert Peters, Pietro Pellini, and Hannah
Wilke.
Many of the artists in “It’s for you” aim
to democratize the artist/audience relationship, a quality that is
intricately woven into the history of conceptual art. In “It’s
for you,” Yoko Ono might call the gallery as part of her Telephone
Piece, providing direct contact between artist and viewer. Students
will work with T. Foley, creating their own ring tones as part of her Locally
Toned project. Archival materials are also included as a way to
represent ephemeral works from the past as with Robert Peters’ Naming
Others: Manufacturing Yourself (1993) where the artist asked people
to call an 800 number from pay phones and choose which stereotyping
phrase described them best.
“It’s for You” harnesses the familiarity of the
telephone as a way of introducing audiences to a variety of conceptual art
practices, which often include a mix of art theory and social critique. The
exhibition, consequently, endeavors to connect concerns found in contemporary
art with the objects, communication habits, and changing technologies in our
daily lives. In that spirit, visitors and students will be encouraged
to comment on the exhibition using telephone-friendly interfaces such as Twitter.
Housatonic Community College provides an affordable and accessible
education through two-year degrees, transfer preparation, and certificate
programs, as well as a wide variety of continuing education and personal/professional
enrichment seminars and workshops. In addition, HCC offers employee
and occupational training for businesses, municipalities, government
agencies, and professional associations to help develop the educated
and skilled workforce required to meet regional business and industry
needs. HCC is nationally recognized as an “Achieving the
Dream” institution. To learn more, visit the college’s
website at: www.hcc.commnet.edu <http://www.hcc.commnet.edu> .
HCC is located at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in downtown Bridgeport, less
than 150 yards off I-95 (Exit 27) and Rte. 8 (Exit 1), a block from
the Arena at Harbor Yard. Free parking is available in the Housatonic
garage.
Anson C. Smith, Public Relations Coordinator
Housatonic Community College
900 Lafayette Blvd.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Tel: 203-332-5229, Fax: 203-332-5247
E-mail: asmith@hcc.commnet.edu