[-empyre-] Apache Projects

[Nate Hitchcock]

Hello room,

Thank you to Renate and Tim for the intro. and invite. It is really
great to have this opportunity to present and join in the discussion.
A little about me. I am somewhat based in Weehawken, New Jersey and
previously based in Chicago (SAIC) where I started making shows.
My personal website has some links to past exhibitions I organized:
natehitchcock.com (scroll straight down). I begin studies this May at
Danube University's Media Art Histories program.
Apache Projects is what I am working on right now: Apacheprojects.com.
It is an open-source exhibition site located in Mother Neff State Park
in Moody, Texas. It is a Tonkawa burial cave discovered by the C.C.C.
during the construction of the park in the 1930s. Here is the park's
official history of the cave (it is written on a plaque posted on the
path to the cave): http://apacheprojects.com/info.html.
Right now I am working with artists who are interested in making solo
shows inside the cave. The artists are all interested in moving new
media, net.art etc. ideology from screens into other forms or away
from screens in altogether.

Here are some things that interest me..
Studying in Chicago gave me a possibly different approach to making
exhibitions that involves little to no money. For those of you who may
not be familiar, Chicago has a huge amount of artist run temporary
spaces, usually taking form in someones living room or empty bedroom.
The first show I made in 2008 took place at Normal Projects
(http://normalprojects.info/) in a kitchen where I hung 2d works on a
fridge. The living room displayed 2d works or works on screens curated
by the woman who lived in the apartment.
I find that new media work etc, despite the cost of equipment, is very
conducive to this type of exhibition making. Also, cost wise I have
found it relatively easy to find equipment for free.
Through my interest in this type of practice and work I've found that
not only is new media cheaper to display, but also more mobile.. which
brings me to another interest of mine that may be more relative to
discussions of curatorial practices and strategies..
How mobile is new media/net.art/screen based work? I know there is a
lot of talk about format shifting recently and making sculptures from
an internet oriented perspective but each time we load a work onto a
machine in a different context can the meaning of the work change as
well? It seems to me that this type of work is very conducive to
alternative spaces. If this is true, how much curatorial freedom do we
have in choosing the locations, and in that case, what makes a show a
show even?
Some very good responses to these questions so far are Aram Barthol's
Speed Show and Rafael Rozendaal's BYOB because they highlight the
mobility and reproducible nature of these types of works and instead
of doing what might be obvious; taking control away from the artists
since everything is accessible they relinquish the control of the
curator for the benefit of the artist (somewhat).

Looking forward,

Nate



-- 

Director
Apache Projects
Tel. 1 432.242.2056
ApacheProjects.com