Power Play class at Occidental College

 

We designed the Power Play course to examine the power dynamics of the way individuals come together in groups. Through making and using "relational objects" [a term coined in the 1960s by Brazilian artist Lygia Clark] we experimented with how individuals can maintain their agency when "scaling up" from relationships with ourselves to large public groups. For reference we looked at the organizational strategies of movements such as 1970s feminist consciousness-raising sessions, 21st century horizontalism, and free schools. Students used relational object-making to create experiences beyond the immediate materiality of the object--for a solo, collaborative, or communal experiences.

With Respect To...

Holding Hearing Court, 2015

One of two galleries in the With Respect To... solo exhibition at Weingart Gallery at Occidental College, Los Angeles CA. The HHC is part of CamLab's "speaker mounds" series. Participants were invited to browse, read aloud, and stand/lie/squat proud! Research binders had themes of 'Force' and 'Dependence (Co- / Inter-).' Found texts contributed by CamLab and the members of its Occidental College Power Play class: Emilie Arnau, Gabriel Bethke, Gabriela Castillo, Hannah Kaminsky, Haarika Reddy, Sianni Rosenstock, Margot Simon, Chloe Welmond, and Allison Wendt.
Top image: Holding Hearing Court (Accompany), 2015

custom pedestal, vinyl banner, digital prints, site specific vinyl tape, research binder, amplifier, microphone

96 x 46 x 103"

Above: The Reguarding Room, 2015-ongoing
to-scale model of Weingart Gallery that houses an exhibition of rape and sexual assault-themed artworks, crafted in workshops with Occidental students and the public
wood, fabric, foam, foam core, glue, miniature artworks in mixed media
106 x 76 x 22"

Below: Inside-Outside Table, 2013, 2015
custom-made surface in two parts for public and private workshops
birch plywood, paint, ink, metal
96 x 96 x 29”
The table holds reference books, miniature art-making supplies, and is encircled by ten leather 1940s chairs from Occidental College's cafeteria. Reference books include volumes loaned from CamLab's personal library, Aandrea Stang's personal library, the Occidental College Library, and the Feminist Library On Wheels (F.L.O.W.), a node of the Women’s Center for Creative Work in Los Angeles. F.L.O.W. is a multimedia collection of feminist texts, artifacts, and ephemera made available to as diverse an audience as possible, by bicycle. The single shelf holds the miniature artworks not currently installed in The Reguarding Room gallery model.