By splicing together scenes of Grabner's domestic life (she gardens, she cooks) and scenes of her artistic work (she weaves, she discusses her creative process), Robbins shows us the degree to which Grabner's domestic and
artistic lives exist in tandem.
Not exact matches
Artistic expression has all the earmarks of a genetically evolved capacity: It appears early in
life, is enjoyable for its own sake,
exists across all cultures, and is mediated by ancient neural pathways in the brain.
A need
exists, one might say a vast and burning need
exists, for
artistic works that honestly and accurately reflect contemporary American
life, including its most intimate and painful secrets.
Do aesthetic and
artistic practices have to refute political engagement, and can they
exist without being rooted in social
life?
The Watermill Center's Artist Residency Program invites collectives and individual artists take up residence at The Center to
live and develop works that critically investigate, challenge and extend the
existing norms of
artistic practice.
«We do not systematically recognize vibrant
artistic forms that
exist right smack dab in Houston (or elsewhere),» she says, «because, since they forego the performance stage or gallery exhibition, folk and traditional arts are almost always «embedded» and «performative,» surrounded by the messy, meaningful stuff of social
life.»
Each year collectives and individual artists take up residence at The Center to
live and develop works that critically investigate, challenge and extend the
existing norms of
artistic practice.
Intuitive pairings of works from a diverse range of artists, whose careers and
lives span multiple generations, places, skills and training and practices both decontextualize and recontextualize our understanding of art and
artistic practice, making connections where none seemed to
exist and breaking with conventions that have historically limited dialogue.