Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Trading Dirt (No Borders Here)

Trading Dirt --- NO BORDERS HERE


The beauty of Allan Kaprow’s Trading Dirt piece was the curiosity  and the dialogue it stimulated in the people he approached for the trade and the re-defining of traditional artist/viewer relationship.  With that in mind, I invited my siblings who live thousands of miles away  to trade dirt with me.  My sister Sandra lives in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, my brother George lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, my other sister
Silvana lives in Saronno, Varese, Italy and then there is me, living here in Los Angeles, California, USA.  I am primarily a painter, a solitary art practice, re-enacting this piece would provide a way to connect/collaborate with my family and include  them in process as activity.  A common goal and effort would be contributed by all parties if they agreed to participate.  More over the dirt collected from what is considered separate places not only geographically but in terms of sovereignty, would connect the four locations and re-identify them simply as terra firma, mother earth---one world interconnected.   
This would all have to happen through the use of emails and the postal system, which would leave much of the process up to chance, especially getting the dirt through the postal system.  Because I was the one who invited my family to participate, I included two American dollars for the cost of postage at their end of the exchange.  What follows are the email requests, replies and jpegs images of the packages of dirt sent and received.

THE EMAILS


Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:28:37

To: sandra, george, silvana
From: gina
Subject: Trading Dirt

Dear Sandra, George and Sil,
As you know I am currently going to Claremont Graduate University.  My “New Genre” class will be part of a retrospective at Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art honoring  artist Allan Kaprow. He was an important California artist and instrumental in the creation of The Happening, art as collaboration/performance centered around time, place and community.  Some of the Happenings will be recreated by artist and performed around Los Angeles and at the museum.
We choose to recreate “Trading Dirt”, which he kept going for a long period of time.  He started with a bucket of dirt from his garden and asked complete strangers if he could have a bucket of dirt from their gardens in exchange for his.
I am inviting you my  to send me a small amount of dirt from your gardens, ( an ounce or so?).
This would be a symbolic of one earth, no boundaries and a way to collaborate and connect with you who live far away around the globe.  Of course the kicker are the postal restrictions of sending dirt thru the mail. I leave it to your ingenuity as to how to pack the dirt for mail delivery.
I will send you each a small amount of dirt from my garden.  I will be using a small zip-lock baggie and will include postage for you to send me your dirt. If you feel inspire to include a short note of your experience in collecting and sending the dirt, that would be great but not necessary. I’ll include every part of this exchange in a final presentation for the event.
Let me know if you have any questions or if you don’t want to participate. I know you are all busy and I would greatly appreciate your part in this collaboration.

Thanks in advance!
Love,
Gina

Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 16:17:42
To: gina  
From: Sandra
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Hi Gina:
 Sounds like a great idea. I'm in, however the dirt is pretty frozen and covered in snow right now.  When do you need it?
Love
San

Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:12:37
To: sandra
From: gina
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Great ! As soon as you can scrape a little dirt to send...a tablespoon or two would be perfect.
Thanks San!

Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:41:58
To: gina
From: george  
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Hi G...belated Birthday wishes to you & Zig...............when would u like me to send the dirt...? when the snow thaws ?
or would frozen dirt do it ?
G

Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:10:08
To: george
From: gina
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Hi George, thanks for the birthday wishes.
The exhibition is in March so as soon as you can dig a little dirt up to send, would be great. I will send you some dirt form my garden soon too.
Sandra also has to deal with frozen ground. Just do your best, I really appreciate your participation and the exchange of terra firma.
Drop a note when you mail me the dirt so I’ll know to look for it.
Hope all is well with you.
                    Gina

Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:54:23
To: sandra, george, silvana
From: gina
Subject: Trading dirt

Hi you three, Did any of you finally receive the dirt I sent? Please get back to me as soon as you can.
Gina

Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 20:20:21
To: gina
From: sandra
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

Hi Gi:
The dirt got here today, and it was not tampered with.  I'll put it in the garden tomorrow before we leave for Vancouver.  We bought an Escape and are picking it up tomorrow.  Maybe we'll call you from Chrissy and Dylans over the weekend.  Don't work too hard..and give our love to Zig.

Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 07:46:08
To: gina
From: george
Subject: RE: Trading dirt

got it tuesday......still waiting for snow to melt here...seems to snow every second day here at least  a half foot at a time..
 G

Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 00:13:12 (PST)
From: silvana
To: gina
Subject: Trading dirt

Hi Gi
Sorry about the tremendous delay - March April and May are the busiest months of the year for me and the Toronto Vacation Study Trip is proving to be very exciting indeed!  There are now 7 of us and I have decided to rent a house instead of looking for other accommodation, it'll be cheaper with this number of people.  At the moment, I've got to choose among  3, one in the beaches, one's in the Annex and the last one is Woodbine and Danforth (which I hear has developed quite a bit since the race track isn't there anymore) Anyway... and so on...I'm really excited (but really exhausted!)
I have 3 courses in progress in addition and am also in the process of renovating Julia's and our room - lots of dumping (excess baggage - the constant growth - before you know it, there's stuff all around, where the fuck did it all come from??)  anyway, you get the gist, right?
So.....  SORRY FOR THE DELAY, I had to open up the package and add the dirt, along with the spices and stuff I sent.  it has been sent by FEDERAL EXPRESS and they were so great - not normal here.  So...
ON MONDAY I WILL SEND YOU A ORDER NUMBER. THE GUY SAID THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO ON YOUR END (EVEN THE SAME DAY AS PROMISED DELIVERY DATE) IS CALL FED EX WITH THE ORDER NUMBER, AND TELL THEM WHAT TIME YOU'LL BE HOME AND THEY'LL DELIVER IT ON YOUR TERMS, ONLY IF YOU CALL, THOUGH.  OTHERWISE, THEY'LL COME EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT HOME.
They told me that Fed Ex prefers to deliver on your terms because it saves time for them, so if you can, CALL THEM.  I will not receive an order number until Monday sometime via email so when I get it I'll send it to you right away.
promised DELIVERY DATE - TUESDAY.
AGAIN...SORRY FOR THE DAY
Love Sil
P.S.  When you get some time on the weekend maybe, can you call Julia? You forgot one promised weekend but she didn't, no biggie, just a reminder - you know how much she loves you - just send her an email if you haven't got the time - any pics of your cats, garden, house - she loves that stuff and when it's sent to her personally, it really makes her day.  It's not the most positive period of her life right now so any external distractions WOULD BE WELCOME (anything, really) especially from her favorite auntie .........
 

Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:30:56
From: gina
To: silvana
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

I will call Julia. Did you get my dirt?

Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 09:03:28  (PST)
From: silvana
To: gina stepaniuk
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

I got the dirt
Sil

Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 09:28:24
From: gina
To: silvana
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

Great! thanks Sil.
XO,G

MAILING THE DIRT FROM LOS ANGELES

Toronto                                 Kelowna                                   Saronno

DIRT FROM Sandra, KELOWNA BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA


As of today March 8th, 2008:
A successful trade with my sister Sandra in British Columbia.
Because of the dirt is frozen in Toronto, my brother George has not sent me dirt yet.
Dirt is on it’s way from my sister Silvana in Italy.  
To be continued...



Monday, March 17, 2008

Invite: Opening Kaprow Exhibit at MOCA

Dear Kaprow Collaborators:

Please forward on to any participants and staff that wish to attend this Saturday's event.

In case some of your participants, students or yourselves, are unable to attend, please let me know and I'll obtain free passes for the exhibition at a later date.

Thank you
Ligeia

Ligeia Gorre
Public Art Division

213.202.5546 phone
213.202.5515 fax
Ligeia.Gorre@lacity.org


City of Los Angeles
Department of Cultural Affairs
201 N. Figueroa St. Ste. 1400
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Monday, March 10, 2008

Trading Dirt

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Saturday, March 8, 2008

Trading Dirt (No Borders Here)

Trading Dirt --- NO BORDERS HERE


The beauty of Allan Kaprow’s Trading Dirt piece was the curiosity  and the dialogue it stimulated in the people he approached for the trade and the re-defining of traditional artist/viewer relationship.  With that in mind, I invited my siblings who live thousands of miles away  to trade dirt with me.  My sister Sandra lives in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, my brother George lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, my other sister Silvana lives in Saronno, Varese, Italy and then there is me, living here in Los Angeles, California, USA.  I am primarily a painter, a solitary art practice, re-enacting this piece would provide a way to connect/collaborate with my family and include  them in process as activity.  A common goal and effort would be contributed by all parties if they agreed to participate.  More over the dirt collected from what is considered separate places not only geographically but in terms of sovereignty, would connect the four locations and re-identify them simply as terra firma, mother earth---one world interconnected.   
This would all have to happen through the use of emails and the postal system, which would leave much of the process up to chance, especially getting the dirt through the postal system.  Because I was the one who invited my family to participate, I included two American dollars for the cost of postage at their end of the exchange.  What follows are the email requests, replies and jpegs images of the packages of dirt sent and received.

THE EMAILS


Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:28:37

To: sandra, george, silvana
From: gina
Subject: Trading Dirt

Dear Sandra, George and Sil,
As you know I am currently going to Claremont Graduate University.  My “New Genre” class will be part of a retrospective at Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art honoring  artist Allan Kaprow. He was an important California artist and instrumental in the creation of The Happening, art as collaboration/performance centered around time, place and community.  Some of the Happenings will be recreated by artist and performed around Los Angeles and at the museum.
We choose to recreate “Trading Dirt”, which he kept going for a long period of time.  He started with a bucket of dirt from his garden and asked complete strangers if he could have a bucket of dirt from their gardens in exchange for his.
I am inviting you my  to send me a small amount of dirt from your gardens, ( an ounce or so?).
This would be a symbolic of one earth, no boundaries and a way to collaborate and connect with you who live far away around the globe.  Of course the kicker are the postal restrictions of sending dirt thru the mail. I leave it to your ingenuity as to how to pack the dirt for mail delivery.
I will send you each a small amount of dirt from my garden.  I will be using a small zip-lock baggie and will include postage for you to send me your dirt. If you feel inspire to include a short note of your experience in collecting and sending the dirt, that would be great but not necessary. I’ll include every part of this exchange in a final presentation for the event.
Let me know if you have any questions or if you don’t want to participate. I know you are all busy and I would greatly appreciate your part in this collaboration.

Thanks in advance!
Love,
Gina

Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 16:17:42
To: gina  
From: Sandra
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Hi Gina:
 Sounds like a great idea. I'm in, however the dirt is pretty frozen and covered in snow right now.  When do you need it?
Love
San

Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:12:37
To: sandra
From: gina
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Great ! As soon as you can scrape a little dirt to send...a tablespoon or two would be perfect.
Thanks San!

Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:41:58
To: gina
From: george  
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Hi G...belated Birthday wishes to you & Zig...............when would u like me to send the dirt...? when the snow thaws ?
or would frozen dirt do it ?
G

Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:10:08
To: george
From: gina
Subject: Re: Trading Dirt

Hi George, thanks for the birthday wishes.
The exhibition is in March so as soon as you can dig a little dirt up to send, would be great. I will send you some dirt form my garden soon too.
Sandra also has to deal with frozen ground. Just do your best, I really appreciate your participation and the exchange of terra firma.
Drop a note when you mail me the dirt so I’ll know to look for it.
Hope all is well with you.
                    Gina

Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:54:23
To: sandra, george, silvana
From: gina
Subject: Trading dirt

Hi you three, Did any of you finally receive the dirt I sent? Please get back to me as soon as you can.
Gina

Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 20:20:21
To: gina
From: sandra
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

Hi Gi:
The dirt got here today, and it was not tampered with.  I'll put it in the garden tomorrow before we leave for Vancouver.  We bought an Escape and are picking it up tomorrow.  Maybe we'll call you from Chrissy and Dylans over the weekend.  Don't work too hard..and give our love to Zig.

Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 07:46:08
To: gina
From: george
Subject: RE: Trading dirt

got it tuesday......still waiting for snow to melt here...seems to snow every second day here at least  a half foot at a time..
 G

Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 00:13:12 (PST)
From: silvana
To: gina
Subject: Trading dirt

Hi Gi
Sorry about the tremendous delay - March April and May are the busiest months of the year for me and the Toronto Vacation Study Trip is proving to be very exciting indeed!  There are now 7 of us and I have decided to rent a house instead of looking for other accommodation, it'll be cheaper with this number of people.  At the moment, I've got to choose among  3, one in the beaches, one's in the Annex and the last one is Woodbine and Danforth (which I hear has developed quite a bit since the race track isn't there anymore) Anyway... and so on...I'm really excited (but really exahausted!)
I have 3 courses in progress in addition and am also in the process of renovating Julia's and our room - lots of dumping (excess baggage - the constant growth - before you know it, there's stuff all around, where the fuck did it all come from??)  anyway, you get the gist, right?
So.....  SORRY FOR THE DELAY, I had to open up the package and add the dirt, along with the spices and stuff I sent.  it has been sent by FEDERAL EXPRESS and they were so great - not normal here.  So...
ON MONDAY I WILL SEND YOU A ORDER NUMBER. THE GUY SAID THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO ON YOUR END (EVEN THE SAME DAY AS PROMISED DELIVERY DATE) IS CALL FED EX WITH THE ORDER NUMBER, AND TELL THEM WHAT TIME YOU'LL BE HOME AND THEY'LL DELIVER IT ON YOUR TERMS, ONLY IF YOU CALL, THOUGH.  OTHERWISE, THEY'LL COME EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT HOME.
They told me that Fed Ex prefers to deliver on your terms because it saves time for them, so if you can, CALL THEM.  I will not receive an order number until Monday sometime via email so when I get it I'll send it to you right away.
promised DELIVERY DATE - TUESDAY.
AGAIN...SORRY FOR THE DAY
Love Sil
P.S.  When you get some time on the weekend maybe, can you call Julia? You forgot one promised weekend but she didn't, no biggie, just a reminder - you know how much she loves you - just send her an email if you haven't got the time - any pics of your cats, garden, house - she loves that stuff and when it's sent to her personally, it really makes her day.  It's not the most positive period of her life right now so any external distractions WOULD BE WELCOME (anything, really) especially from her favourite auntie .........
 

Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:30:56
From: gina
To: silvana
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

I will call Julia. Did you get my dirt?

Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 09:03:28  (PST)
From: silvana
To: gina stepaniuk
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

I got the dirt
Sil

Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 09:28:24
From: gina
To: silvana
Subject: Re: Trading dirt

Great! thanks Sil.
XO,G

MAILING THE DIRT FROM LOS ANGELES

Toronto                                 Kelowna                                   Saronno

DIRT FROM Sandra, KELOWNA BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA


As of today March 8th, 2008:
A successful trade with my sister Sandra in British Columbia.
Because of the dirt is frozen in Toronto, my brother George has not sent me dirt yet.
Dirt is on it’s way from my sister Silvana in Italy.  
To be continued...


Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Trading dirt

after class i started trading dirt. as a verbal dirt called the first 5 people that pasted my door  into my studio in, and asked them to tell me a secret then i did the same. I can not revel the secrets yet i will tell you it took some conveceing to get them to trade with me.
 
thanks for trading with me.
C.M. Venice McCurdy


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Monday, March 3, 2008

DCA Website promotion for Happenings

Dear Kaprow Collaborators:

DCA is creating a web page for the Kaprow Happenings and we are using
identical text MOCA will be using on their marketing calendar and our
own introductory information regarding DCA and our collaborators
involvement in the exhibition. A MOCA web page/site dedicated to Kaprow
is also being constructed. We will hear more about their web Kaprow
initiative next week at the MOCA Talk Back.

We need a few items from you:
1. your organizations logo (72 dpi).
2. any images you wish to provide from the process of this project at
your center/studio/community thus far (if applicable)

3. For those of you who have a website, do you plan on publicizing your
Happening event on the site? If so, would you like DCA to link up to the
main page or a particular page within the site? (Please note, stated in
our contract with MOCA, we need to include credit language ie:

["Happenings are coordinated by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los
Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs, and
made possible by generous support from the Getty Foundation. Allan
Kaprow - Art as Life is organized by the Haus der Kunst, Munich, and the
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. The exhibition is on view at The Geffen
Contemporary at MOCA from March 23 to June 30, 2008."

Participant agrees to submit all printed materials and website pages
for review to City two weeks in advance of print (web) deadline.]

Could you please send me the above item(s) by Wednesday, March 12th?

Thank you again
Ligeia

Ligeia Gorre
Public Art Division

213.202.5546 phone
213.202.5515 fax
Ligeia.Gorre@lacity.org


City of Los Angeles
Department of Cultural Affairs
201 N. Figueroa St. Ste. 1400
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Jay:

Dear Jay:

I'm the project manager at Department of Cultural Affairs, Public Art Division for the Kaprow/Happenings. (I'm also a previous student of Anne Bray) I sent her the below message about a MOCA discussion regarding Kaprow but wanted to send it your way just in case. You and any of the other students are welcome to attend. Can you please let me know as soon as possible how many can or wish to attend? Or at least an estimate? If you have any questions please feel free to call me 213.202.5546 or email.

Thanks
Ligeia

At this time, I would also like to invite you and any other students or associates that will be participating in your Happening to MOCA Grand
Avenue on Tuesday, March 11 at 7pm for a Talk Back concerning Kaprow, the history of performance art, and your processes of re-making. Julia Bryan-Wilson, professor of art history at University of California,Irvine, will speak and lead this discussion. Also at this event, our web generalist, Bret Nicely, will speak about your interaction with the MOCA website throughout the exhibition. We would very much like to have
participants actively provide content for our dedicated Kaprow site.

Ligeia Gorre
Public Art Division

213.202.5546 phone
213.202.5515 fax
Ligeia.Gorre@lacity.org


City of Los Angeles
Department of Cultural Affairs
201 N. Figueroa St. Ste. 1400
Los Angeles, CA 90012