Terry Irwin, Donna Moran, Andrea Wollensak, Karen Boone, Julia Randall, Lyn Godley, Deb Johnson

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This June, the Swimming Hole Foundation is bringing together a group of women artists to collectively respond to “place.” Their individual practices: painting, drawing, ceramics, sound and lighting design, photography and printmaking are the starting point of a collaborative experiment that will engage the oral histories of women who came up during a profound time of social change in the US – the 1960s and 70s.

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The OGs have adopted the metaphor of the quilting circle, a long-standing tradition in which women came together to sew clothing scraps into coverlets. This collaborative activity resulted in the creation of useful artifacts, but the “circle” provided a place for the women to tell stories, share knowledge and empower each other in their isolation.

 

We too, are currently emerging from a period of isolation, rife with political upheaval and threats to individual rights. Stories of change are asking to be told. The Old GangstHERS’ daily explorations in the natural landscape of the Swimming Hole, will be reflected in late afternoons in the barn. In this space their “quilt” will emerge, by collecting, constructing, assembling, recording, and projecting stories that capture decades of wisdom. An interactive artifact, both physical and ethereal, will emerge from their “circle” and be displayed as a collaborative work.

Matt Nolen, Sarah Von Oerkirkspspsp, other, other, other, other.

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This group explored the potential of designing a community action force to defend citizen's rights, public activities and interactions without guns? For example street artists and buskers who are often hassled by the police. The group envisioned a systems based APP that inter-connected street maps, usable public spaces, permitting protocol and a “Limecoat” who acts as a community advocate and liaison with the police.

Syse Birsel, other other other.

A collaborative installation that showcased the individual artists working within the cross-over theme that focused on birds, patterns of migration, and behavior. An animated light projection integrated physical artifacts and the communal processes, reflecting a compilation of “visions,” and underscored the expansiveness of the artists’ singular and collaborative voices. The week long residency culminated in a featured exhibition at the Upstate Arts Weekend was covered in Art Schpeil and Inside + Out. 

Joseph Morris, TBA

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Signposts help us navigate the landscape, fashioning connections and weaving tales, both physically and figuratively. They can be used to mark trails, boundaries, or danger, to convey messages or stories. Signposts can also be used to critique the status quo, dig deep into vertical histories and networked systems, and propose alternate ways of understanding and interacting with the world.

 

This collaboratory experimented with using the site for performance, creating artifacts and improvisation to create a new creative process that ritualizes generative, cross-disciplinary work. The group used drawing, sewing, photography, videography, music, construction, written word, and dance. They also developed a treatise on collaboration dubbed SITAGE. All viewable here.

Sahib Singh, Jan Bathel, Anne Bathel, Kurt Herzer, TBA, TBA, TBA

A series of ten experiments where artists shared individual processes and jointly created artifacts related to their personal medical histories. Notable work included “actions on a broken chair” that represented “the patient,” branch harvesting and charcoal making leading to a group drawing entitled “The Honorable Harvest,” and “Life Stories,” a series of artist’s talks that delved deeply into medical histories, diagnostics, treatments and explored the impact on their individual work through physical and material memories. 

Mike Hruska, Dennis Schneider, others

Working together and on behalf of the advancement of collaboration at the Swimming Hole this cohort explored the optimal conditions for collaboration. It was a living experiment that provided the starting point for ongoing explorations and discussions. The hope was to create at least one new idea about collaboration that the group would incorporate into their life or work and build one new connection for collaboration. It also served as a guidebook for future collaborations at the Swimming Hole. It all worked and then some. The document is available here.