We stationed a docent to be on-site during our regularly scheduled gallery hours to offer information about the piece and to collect visitors’ various responses. Our docents were Eric Dobbins, founder of Wonderfair gallery in Lawrence, KS; Kansas City Art Institute student Katy McRoberts; and community artist John Hilger, who is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

The docents were encouraged to engage visitors- both those who appeared specifically to see the piece, and those just happening across it while enjoying the park- in order to collect opinions and discuss thoughts about the work, its creation, and whatever other issue might be brought up.

The docents offered visitors the choice of one of three buttons as a memento. These buttons gave the docents an opportunity to break the ice by offering a gift, but also served as something like a casual ballot- a viewer’s choice of buttons offered possible insight into her or his perspective about the work. This was, admittedly, a rather unscientific method for gathering reactions, but it served to be useful in catalyzing conversation about all kinds of topics- from the economy to patriotism to the complexities of the Federal Reserve bank.

The docents were given digital recorders to document responses, a few of which we would like to share here. We were thrilled by the diversity of responses, which ranged from enthusiasm to disgust- both about the piece itself and the perceived necessity or frivolity of a piece as audacious as this one. Given that one stated goal of IOU/USA was to generate discussion, we wish to share the following responses collected during its brief lifetime:

Retired Navy Officer, 20 yrs. in the service:

“Well, I like it. I like things with whimsy. You’re gonna die any day so you can’t take things so serious. And ten minutes after you die, no one will give a damn. Hell, maybe five minutes.”

Refused buttons and pamphlet.

Two Ladies Walking:

One takes IOU button and asks, “Is this art?”

Runner:

“What is it?” 

I explain briefly as he runs past.

“I think it’s weird! I think it’s wonderful!”

Thursday, September 15

Mother and Son walking dog:

Mother takes USA.

Child (8ish) takes IOU.

John, from Minnesota:

“I like the pamphlet a lot; it answered all of the questions I had about the work. I think it’s very appropriate for the location, by the Fed.”

Group just exiting the Money Museum, Woman from Texas and couple from Springfield. Texan is holding a bag of shredded bills from the Museum. Woman from Texas:

“I think its a shame something like this has to be up, but its true.”

[Motions toward the IOU.]

Woman takes IOU.Couple takes all 3 buttons.

Unknown male:

“Is it art?” [Reading pamphlet and sign.] “They tried to fight it? The Fed tried to fight it. That speaks with a loud voice right there. Someone needs to call Fox News and get them down here to do a story.”

Asked to take 3 IOU/USA buttons, and 1 USA.

Silver sports car driving by:

“GET A LIFE!”

Three women powerwalking:

“I can’t wait until they get rid of that thing!”

Companion: “SHHH!”

Did you visit the site of IOU/USA? Did it spark any thoughts for you? If so, we welcome you to share them-positive, negative, or otherwise- in the comments section below.

Applications Open for 2nd Edition of of the Future Generation Art Prize

All images and captions by the artist. Click to enlarge the images.

First 40’ container is placed after site at Penn Valley/Memorial Hill Park is surveyed, excavated and leveled.

The first course is carefully placed. The integrity of the structure is dependent upon a level foundation.

Completion of first course with Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in the background.

As per Federal Reserve requirements, each container is inspected, recorded and locked in the presence of Reserve security officers.

Grand Arts’ E.J. Holland helps get the second row started.

Belger Cartage crane crew setting an NOL container.

Corner connectors secure each container to another.

20’ containers are used to account for textual discrepancies between the IOU and USA sides.

With World War I Memorial in background, the crane operator picks a container from the staging area.

A Hyundai container finishes out the third level.

Looking from the west, the project begins to assert its presence before the Federal Reserve building.

As the structure rises, its message slowly reveals itself.

The final course nears completion.

View of IOU/USA as it is approached from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

View of the War Memorial and downtown Kansas City from atop IOU/USA.

As you may have noticed, we have been a bit quiet of late. We are currently working towards developing a large-scale public installation with the artist John Salvest. The process of gaining the necessary permissions, documentation, and engineering specifics has been a journey. The experience has been illuminating and has served as the catalyst for many in-depth conversations among our staff and the collaborators with whom we find ourselves working to realize this piece.

After many meetings, documents, and conversations, we have at long last secured the site for John Salvest’s public project. It is a thrilling prospect to create work in the public sphere and we expect the sculpture will contribute to a healthy dialogue regarding some of the pressing issues that we, as a culture, are currently facing. Many thought-provoking ideas have surfaced even in the beginning stages of this endeavor. Does the nature of the site as public property give us the right to use the space as a venue for contemporary art? If so, what are the limits of free-speech in such a context? Whose voice may speak from such a platform and how might the work provide the opportunity for larger conversation? As we navigate the various hurdles necessary to achieve our goal, these are but the most surface questions with which we are faced. We are delighted to have the chance to use contemporary art as a vehicle to energize conversation and thought among our community.

The work we do at Grand Arts necessarily requires us to meet the unique challenges of projects as they come. Such work demands that we take a fluid and holistic perspective when approaching these problems- which, more often than not, puts us in unexpected positions with some unexpected people. Such unpredictability is part of what makes Grand Arts such a stimulating place to be. Contemporary art is one of the few fields of study where the boundaries by which it is defined have all but dissolved. Though some might fear that the nebulous nature of what constitutes ‘contemporary art’ has rendered the term and its practice obscure in the least, we at Grand Arts believe that the transdisciplinary approach of contemporary art practice is one of its greatest boons. We are not held captive by narrow definitions and find ourselves in the unique position of being able to explore the world with a wide lens. Our current project with John Salvest is a prime example of this. When we can see and inhabit a world less defined by conventional divisions, we can create meaningful connections to which we may have been previously occluded. The emergent hybrids formed by these connections often serve not just as novel cross-pollinating, but work to produce qualitative and fundamental evolutionary strides in human culture. Such growth is a worthwhile endeavor for the arts—even if it means we have to hole up every once in a while to do the work. The unique challenges of working in the public sphere have deepened this belief and have served to catalyze the mission of Grand Arts. We can’t wait to share with you.

Please check back often, as we are excited to share the development of our upcoming projects!

Seth Johnson
Design and Communications Coordinator
Grand Arts

The birds and the bees,

Malfunction did us all in,

Algorithm broke.

Don’t go to Safe Way.

A silent spring come to life.

Consider your luck.

Pen lives in your hand.

Focus on the afterlife.

Seeing the unknown.

A thick winter coat.

It reeks, I’m pretty sure, death,

Impossible now.

Fecund between us.

The foundation is cracking.

All sentenced to death.

Can I get a beer?

Report the news from my bed.

Undesirable.

The snow has come and Grand Arts is moving forward with our conversation and event series Dialogue By Design: Experimental Platforms for Intimate Conversations.
Since returning from the holiday break, we have begun the process of transforming the small gallery into a working document; a mental mapping of the themes and inspirations for the series; a galaxy of thought bubbles, references and threads; an analog blogosphere. This transformation will be ongoing, evolving over time, with additions and input from our staff, guest artists, facilitators and visitors. Currently, we’re reflecting on the initial events: Conversation Matter: An Open Forum organized by poet Lori Brack with an installation response by artist May Tveit; An Evening of Warming organized by Lacey Wozny and collaborators; and an Evening with Rob Walker, Improbable Futures for Unpopular Places.
Check the Grand Arts website and our Facebook page for details as more events emerge. Meanwhile, here are some images documenting the Evening of Warming.

The Bath House:

“Agoraphobia Begins at Home” Film installation by the Projector:

“Essentially You” performed by The Therapist:

Scents by The Mediator:

The Crier:

“Piano Etudes” performed by The Tuner:

The following are some snapshots from Rob Walker’s Kansas City excursions. Potential Hypothetical Developments on our very own turf?! This could be potential research for Walker’s work with the Hypothetical Development Organization, which was the focus of his talk at Grand Arts. The HDO sees opportunities for urban storytelling in properties and buildings that have fallen into disuse–”architectural fictions”. This past December 2010, the HDO unveiled their debut collection of renderings onsite at various  locations throughout the city and simultaneously in a gallery show in New Orleans, LA.

From Kansas City:

Furniture Prototypes

Project Managers E.J. Holland and April Pugh designed and produced these awesome pieces for our “Dialogue by Design” conversation series. They’re made of recyclable materials AND they’re ergonomic!

Stacked Chairs

Rocker

Stacked Drawing Tables

As part of our upcoming conversation and event series, Dialogue by Design: Experimental Platforms for Intimate Conversations, poet and educator Lori Brack is designing the first event Conversation Matter: An Open Forum. I asked Brack to tell us a little bit about her background and what we can expect next Saturday. Conversation Matter is free and open to all, however reservations are encouraged due to limited seating. Hope to see you there! SF

GA: In what ways has your background in poetry informed this event?

LB:I’ve always been bewitched by words — both drawn to their magic and consumed by their mystery — and my work as a poet has been an attempt to probe the magic and mystery using a pen as an instrument. Conversation is fascinating to me in many of the same ways — magical and mysterious — because it is elusive and ephemeral and because it is made up of so much more than the words we use. I’m interested in how a human can use all the languages of the body and mind to say something important, and I’m interested in how another human uses languages to hear and listen and maybe respond. I think writing is an attempt to describe and express and make the little black squiggly marks on the page reach across and tell or mean or move. And I think conversation is the same attempt, embodied. Now that I think of it, both writing and conversing are at least as much about listening as they are about saying.

GA: What is the process of your collaboration with May Tveit?

LB: Stacy and I were working on the format of the conversation and she suggested that we work with an artist to create the material trace or the metaphorical reflection and suggested May as an artist who might be right for these ideas. I had known about her work from keeping up with what the Spencer Museum at KU does, but we had never met. May and I exchanged a brief email correspondence, and then May and Stacy and I spent one late October afternoon together when we spread out materials and ideas and talked, followed by more emails that consisted of photographs and drawings and lots of words. We’re still at that stage. Collaborating is as much about letting go as it is about coming together. I think our conversations are catalysts that allow May and me and Stacy to go away and spin our own metaphors and materials out of what we started face-to-face.

GA: What should people expect from Conversation Matter: An Open Forum?

LB: People should expect a serious but open environment that might at first feel a little bit prescriptive but should soon unfold. I’m working with a conversational format that is based in turn-taking, questioning, and listening rather than in debating, speaking out, and competing. Because our culture seems to move fast when someone takes up most of the space for communication, at first this kind of open forum might feel unfamiliar. I’m counting on those who participate to bring curiosity, flexibility, and openness as we experiment together and talk about how and why we converse, why we value it, and what conversation can do in our individual and collective lives. That, plus great food and a visually enriched environment with May’s installation unwinding around them as they sit on the special and lovely new conversation furniture!