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FRONT 2022 Preview Exhibition: Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools

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Stuart O. Smith, Jr.
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Cleveland
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Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
Transformer Station
FRONT International

FRONT 2022 Preview Exhibition: Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools
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After commenting on Twitter how seeing the Tony Tasset: Judy’s Hand Pavilion reminded me of FRONT International 2018 (read details in my blog post about visiting moCa Cleveland on September 24, 2021), I received a reply tweet from FRONT International Executive Director Fred Bidwell saying "more to come!" Therefore, I knew to watch for something to happen soon regarding FRONT International 2022, which led me to see . . .

 

 

. . . the announcement about the Friday, October 8, 2021, FRONT 2022 Preview Exhibition Opening & Party: Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools at Transformer Station!! This blog post shares what I saw at the preview party and some of what I learned about next year's FRONT International 2022.

 

 

The Weekend!

"Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend" -- What a great way to start my weekend -- the opening of FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art Preview Exhibition. Thanks to the FRONT International sponsors for making this possible!!!

Thank You, FRONT 2022 Preview Exhibition Sponsors!!
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FREE Public Opening & Party -- FRONT 2022 Preview Exhibition: Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools

FRONT 2022 Preview Exhibition Opening & Party for “Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools”
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Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools

Friday, October 8, 2021

FREE, Public Opening & Party on Friday, October 8, 2021, 6–9pm EDT for FRONT 2022 Preview Exhibition Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools. This exhibition will be on view at Transformer Station from Friday October 8, 2021–Sunday, January 2, 2022. . . . How can the everyday processes of art making be transformative for artists and their communities?  To explore this question, the first exhibition of FRONT 2022, Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools, will embrace a uniquely transparent and iterative curatorial approach: existing artworks will be exhibited alongside projects still in development for next summer, and the show itself will undergo changes over its three-month run as artists add to, revise, and reconfigure the works being displayed.

Grand Prototypes, Humble Tools includes: Jacolby Satterwhite’s Dawn, a utopic CGI fantasy film developed in an ongoing engagement with residents of the Fairfax neighborhood and Cleveland Clinic; Dansbana!, a Stockholm-based architectural trio, creating a Bluetooth-powered open-access dancefloor in Akron; Leigh Ledare’s The Task, a discomfiting film that emerged out of close involvement with the Tavistock therapeutic community; Sarah Oppenheimer’s I-001-7070, a participatory sculpture that explores the potential for visitor input in gallery display structures; Asad Raza, whose ongoing film Ge explores the interconnections of ecology and deep time; seating prototypes by architecture firm SO-IL, who are designing Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on Euclid Avenue; tufted sculptures by Loraine Lynn, whose work expands on the idea of gathering; as well as work from other FRONT 2022 artists such as Dexter Davis and Paul O’Keeffe, who both live and work in Cleveland, and Kameelah Janan Rasheed, La Wilson, Renée Green, Tony Cokes, and others.

The interesting part of this opening was that this is not the final version of these artists' creations, since the artwork is continuing to evolve as part of preparing for FRONT 2022. Instead, the exhibition asks the following questions as part of this evolution: "How can the everyday processes of artmaking be transformative for artists and their communities? How can art catalyze healing?"

My following photos that I shared on Twitter don't capture the full story. For that, you need to visit the exhibition in person to read the artwork descriptions and interact with the pieces. Fortunately, the exhibition is open at Transformer Station through January 2, 2022.

 

Since I have not attended many events this year due to COVID-19, it was great to be out again, talking to people I have not seen in person in a year and a half. I only attended the opening because I am fully vaccinated, and all attendees were required to wear masks.

 

 

The Photography of Emanuel Wallace

As I mention above, there were a few people I talked to that I had not seen in person in a year and a half. One of them was Scene Magazine photographer, Emanuel Wallace (@MannyWallace - @ClevelandScene), who took some great photos from the evening, including a photo of me. Be sure to see all his photos in his online slideshow from the opening:

 

 

 

Be sure to follow @MannyWallace on Twitter, since I know he will be sharing photos from other events happening in Cleveland, including the opening tonight (Thursday, October 14, 2021) of Picturing Motherhood Now at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I will also be attending, and plan to write a blog post about it soon.

 

 

Related Blog Posts

2018 was the first year of FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, which I enjoyed attending at its many venues. I always like to end my posts with a list of related blog posts, but I wrote so many blog posts in 2018 about FRONT, that it is best that you just see them all by pulling up all the posts tagged with:

Also, if you are interested in reading more art related blog posts, please see my 74 other blog posts tagged "Art!"

Thank you for reading my blog post. You can learn about my travel journeys with my wife and co-blogger, Julie, and the venues we explore in Cleveland and Akron at: sosAssociates.com/Blog