Blog Response 2: Tori Bell

1.)   Advocating collaborative exhibitions instead of individual artist shows, community engagement over exclusivity, and alternative spaces in lieu of the customary white cube gallery, Group Material asked "everyone to question the entire culture we have taken for granted.” Group Material’s exhibitions adopted activist stances towards sensitive issues, which was exemplified in their AIDS Timeline project, which sought to illustrate the complex political and cultural reception of the disease. Group Material’s output consciously resembled the forms of the political vanguard. This comprised renting billboards and ad space on subway cars, paying for inserts in the New York Times, and taking exhibitions to the street — “all refusals of established frameworks for the organization of art,”

However, being collaborative meant they were subject to infighting and different ideas of how to achieve their goals. Because the group registered as a non-profit they functioned as one of the beauracracies they were often criticizing. And unfortunately for art historians, Group Materials alternative strategies often meant there was no physical material or minimal documentation.  

Artists like Sharon Hayes, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Rick Lowe are all descendents of the community engagement mindset that Group Materials championed. They make their work in response to the community, and Frazier and Lowe make sure the community is involved.

2.) My work always takes the feminist stance. But feminism is not a white woman’s issue. It needs the voice of black and Hispanic women. However, I cannot just make work about a group in which I don’t have a voice. But I want my work to include this important aspect of feminism.

That is why I am looking into collaborating with female artists of color, or asking a black women’s association if they would help me form the narrative of my illustration and give me feedback. They would also be credited.