Team One / 1

T1

A curatorial event. An event / presentation in a circle with food and drink.

Lively discussion and presentations. --------------> leading to a show. 3 artists.

What is the role of the curator / curatorial in the presentation of dance / performance / ?

Is the role / activity of the curator typically hidden? What is the agenda?

I proposed Ishmael Houston-Jones.

What was my agenda?

Most simply to create a situation that would bring Ishmael out of his self declared retirement.

I have seen Ishmael perform in work of others. Once I saw him perform some of his writings while playing a porn.

I want to see Ishmael perform his movement. I have heard about / read about it / seen images from it. But I want to see the real thing. The live event. I figured it would take a special event / frame to be able to do this. I had a thought that Team One might be such an event. I did not come to propose Ishmael by myself. Earlier in the day (Sunday) I had not decided if I was going to attend the one and only curatorial meeting of Team One. I was undecided as I did not know who to propose. I was having brunch with my girlfriend (luciana achugar) at a diner by our house. She suggested Ishmael. I loved the idea. I have not spoken to Ishmael since he agreed to be a part of Team One. As the one who proposed him (the curator?) I feel that we (him and I) should speak. I feel that I should explain why / why I proposed him...

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http://ishmaelhj.com/

Some stuff like I really like from his site / material I used in my proposal:

PIVOTAL PERFORMANCE: Toss up:
• 1."Cowboys, Dreams and Ladders" my favorite collaboration with Fred Holland, I got to ride a horse, meet a real cowboy in the Bronx and share half the Bessie Award check with Fred.
• 2. "THEM" an intense piece. My first collaboration with Dennis Cooper and Chris Cochrane. Got to dance with a dead goat.
• 3. "f/i/s/s/i/o/n/i/n/g" a solo that really synthesized my art and my politics at the time, plus pictures of me naked made the papers.
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FAVORITE PERFORMING EXPERIENCE: The prologue to "Knife/Tape/Rope" with Jonathan Walker. I was blind folded, tied up, and we danced to Kate Bush on the wrong speed.
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MOST TERRIFYING PERFORMING EXPERIENCE: OK, sticking my head inside that goat carcass in "THEM" was no picnic.
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FAVORITE PROP: Tie:
• The recurring cinder block.
OR
• Carrying my Mom over my shoulder in "Relatives."

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EARLY 80’S BRUSHES WITH FUTURE FAME:
• 1. Worked in a SoHo restaurant, FOOD, alongside Joie Lee (Spike’s sister) and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth). Customers of note -- Robert Mapplethorpe, Duane Michals, David Byrne, Meryl Streep, Caroline Kennedy.
• 2. Had a substance fueled night in an Amsterdam hotel with a "graffiti" artist who later had a posthumous one man show at the Whitney.
• 3. Shared an apartment on the Lower East Side with the actor Steve Buscemi when he made his first film, "Parting Glances."
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I really like this http://ishmaelhj.com/_wsn/page13.html. It is about Ishmael’s time in Nicaragua.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curator

Curator
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Curator is Latin and means guardian or overseer.

A curator of a cultural heritage institution (e.g., archive, gallery, library, museum or garden) is a content specialist responsible for an institution’s collections and, together with a publications specialist, their associated collections catalogs. The object of a curator’s concern necessarily involves tangible objects of some sort, whether it be inter alia artwork, collectibles, historic items or scientific collections.

Curator responsibilities

In smaller organizations, a curator may have sole responsibility for the acquisition and care of objects. The curator will make decisions regarding what objects to collect, oversee their care and documentation, conduct research based on the collection, and share that research with the public and scholarly community through exhibitions and publications. In very small volunteer-based museums, such as local historical societies, a curator may be the only paid staff member.

In larger institutions, the curator’s primary function is as a subject specialist, with the expectation that he or she will conduct original research on objects and guide the organization in its collecting. Such institutions can have multiple curators, each assigned to a specific collecting area (e.g. Curator of Ancient Art, Curator of Prints and Drawings, etc.) and often operating under the direction of a head curator. In such organizations, the physical care of the collection may be overseen by museum collections managers or museum conservators, and documentation and administrative matters (such as insurance and loans) are handled by a museum registrar.

[edit]

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the curator is not a taste-maker. I think that the role of a curator is that of being a frame-maker / contextualizer. A curator bears the responsibility of how to present / show / communicate. In an ideal situation the curator would not only present the work of an artist but would create a situation around the formal presentation composed of talks, presentations, workshops, writings etc. that would help the audience / spectators better understand and engage with the work. By curating an artist you are creating / engaging in a relationship with artist and audience. you are an intermediary. The curator has to understand the responsibility that their role bears. I believe that the curator should / often does have an agenda. Curating allows the opportunity to bring attention / visibility to the things that they think are hidden, missing or under exposed. To me this is what is most exciting----> a curator can create exposure and context. a curator can create excitement (different then being a taste-maker). Curating is an inherently political act. But what isn’t?

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hello / team one
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Chase Granoff to Ishmael, ishmaelhj

show details 1:06 PM (0 minutes ago)


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Hi Ishmael.

Sorry I haven’t written to you sooner. I am so excited that you agreed to be a part of Team One! I had a feeling you would agree to do it. But I also had my doubts.

Do you know what you are going to do?

You know I would love to see some of your work from the 80s. I think my first experience of seeing you perform was watching you in an audience across from me practicing sign language. Remember when Jon, Beth, Eleanor and I drove down to ADF a couple of years ago. That was a fun couple of days. We went to see that horrible French hip hop company, some of us took your class and you cooked risotto for us. Eleanor got mad at me because I did not offer to help to clean up and wash dishes.

I don’t remember how we met though? Maybe through Arturo?

I just wanted to put it out there that since I am the one that proposed you I feel a certain responsibility. Maybe responsibility is not the best word. What I mean is that I want to make myself available to talk / discuss. Of course I understand if you just want to do your thing though and that you don’t need to talk about it. But if you do I am here.

I can’t wait to see what you do. I am excited to see everyone perform. I think it is going to be an awesome show!

Best regards.

Chase.

ps. I think this email will be part of this thing I have to write for the show.

--
Chase Granoff
699 Flushing Ave 3
Brooklyn NY 11206
917.912.4524.
.. chasemanhattan1
b0red0m.wordpress.com

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